Cleveland Browns: Releasing Brian Hartline is Curious
By Peter Smith
The Cleveland Browns opted to release wide receiver Brian Hartline despite the next 11 wide receivers on the roster combining for 18 seasons of experience at the position for their entire careers: 13 of those are Andrew Hawkins and Marlon Moore.
The Browns made a curious decision to release Brian Hartline. The timing of the move might suggest growing confidence in the rookies they drafted or some of the younger veterans on the roster, but the potential value of Hartline wasn’t just on the field, but also in the locker room and meetings, which is critical with the current makeup of that position.
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Hartline was actually more productive than many would have expected last year. He caught 46 passes for 523 yards and two touchdowns in 2015 before a shoulder injury ended his season. That may not seem particularly impressive, but the last month he played, his production went up substantially.
at Pittsburgh – 6 catches for 77 yards
vs. Baltimore – 8 catches for 74 yards
vs. Cincinnati – 8 catches for 83 yards
vs. San Francisco – 8 catches for 107 yards
For the month, Hartline had 30 catches for 341 yards. That seems like something the Browns could use.
Hartline suffered a collarbone injury in the game against the San Francisco 49ers that required surgery on his clavicle and there hasn’t been much of an update on that situation since. Perhaps there is a lingering issue regarding the shoulder that had the Browns opt to release him, but that is unknown at this point.
There is also this idea that Hartline is old. He doesn’t turn 30 until November. Maybe he just looks old or moves like an old guy, but he’s not an old player. Andrew Hawkins is already 30 for comparison’s sake.
The money is also immaterial relative to the cap. The Browns have a ton of cap room and the $3 million to Hartline doesn’t impact anything they do from a financial standpoint.
It’s certainly possible that the veteran entering his eighth year asked for his release, hoping to latch on with a more competitive team to finish out his career. Seemingly, were that going to happen, it would’ve happened earlier, but the drafting of four wide receivers in the 2016 NFL Draft may have pushed that idea forward in Hartline’s mind.
It seems as though the Browns did the same thing for Karlos Dansby when he was released. He went on to sign with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Browns later claimed that Dansby wasn’t fast enough for Ray Horton’s defensive scheme, which is disingenuous at best and flat wrong at worst. Dansby is going to be a huge part of the Bengals defense this year and hadn’t dropped off for the Browns.
The answer is far simpler. Hartline simply wasn’t someone this regime viewed as a leader or role model, so it’s just a matter of betting on the long term and creating roster spots for that long term rather than worrying about the short term, which this team has not done often under this regime.
Regardless of the reasoning, Hartline is gone and the Browns suddenly have the four rookie receivers they drafted a month ago, Terrelle Pryor who is going into his second year as a fulltime wide receiver, Rannell Hall and Darius Jennings entering their second year, Taylor Gabriel entering his third season, which gets to a larger point. The only real veterans this team has at wide receiver are Andrew Hawkins and Marlon Moore.
Al Saunders is a great coach and everyone talks about his energy and passion he brings to the table. That’s incredibly important and hopefully the players are getting everything out of him they possibly can, but that only goes so far.
There’s what Saunders and other coaches say a player needs to do to succeed in this league and there’s seeing it in action. Seeing how much extra time needs to be dedicated to individual work on drills, in the weight room or how to really watch tape to succeed in the NFL is far different than hearing about it; truly appreciating the difference between playing football and being a professional at it.
It’s that much more effective when it’s someone accomplished, whom they can easily respect and would want to emulate. Iron sharpens iron and any number of other clichés would fit here. These rookies need someone to give them that.
Marlon Moore might be a grizzled veteran, relatively speaking, but he’s more of a special teams player than anything. In two seasons with the Browns, he’s caught seven passes, all of which were this past season. Moore also may struggle to make the team.
So, basically that means the only truly credible veteran at wide receiver the Browns have is Andrew Hawkins. And Hawkins is a great player to learn from in terms of what it takes to be an NFL player. He works hard, putting a ton of effort into his footwork and being prepared to be an NFL player, so he fits as a potential role model in the meeting room, though it seems like a lot of pressure on just Hawkins.
Hawkins, who missed half the 2015 season and only caught 27 passes for 276 yards now appears like he has to try to make sure he stays employed while also being the handpicked role model for four rookies. It should help that Hue Jackson knows Hawkins from his time with the Bengals before he signed with the Browns, but it still feels a lot on his plate.
That would have seemingly been where Hartline could’ve lightened the load. In addition to being a role model on the field, there’s a personal part of it off the field. How players avoid off field distractions, dealing with ticket requests from family and friends, the do’s and don’ts in other cities for road games, and all kinds of things that these 21- and 22-year-old kids have never really had to deal with or even think about.
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Hopefully, the Browns have some support within the building to help with these issues, but it’s not easy to replace the peer to peer relationship that players have. There are certain things that no one else is going to understand like another player who has gone through it or is currently going through it.
This all might not sound like a terribly big deal, except this exact problem was a notable talking point during the 2014 season. That year, the Browns had signed Ben Tate, drafted Terrance West and signed Isaiah Crowell as an undrafted free agent. Wilbert Montgomery was an accomplished and credible coach but guys just didn’t know how to work or how to act and the running-back room was problematic for it.
Tate and the rookies didn’t get along and no one was an adult. The Browns ultimately released Tate when he became a distraction and West and Crowell were reasonably productive but lacked direction.
West was criticized for being lazy and was suspended during his rookie year as a result, eventually traded to the Tennessee Titans who then cut him and is teetering on the brink of being out of the NFL as he sits on a depth chart of about 50 running backs in Baltimore.
Crowell has a great shot, again, to be a productive back but he struggled in his second season and has a ton of questions to answer this year about his viability. The team and especially coach Jackson are saying all the right things when it comes to Crowell, but the reality is it’s now or never for Crowell.
Hopefully this regime has a plan in place to make sure this situation doesn’t happen with this group of rookie receivers, but the concern is the team has already acknowledged how big of an adjustment Corey Coleman and Ricardo Louis will be making as they go from college to the NFL. Rashard Higgins and Jordan Payton appear more equipped to step in and make the adjustment but they are just 21 and 22 years old respectively.
It’s easy to understand the idea that the Browns want to turn the page and get younger at a lot of spots, but they have to have plans in place to ensure that these young players have the support in place to do that and can reach their potential. Losing Hartline may prove to be unimportant and hopefully that proves to be the case, but if the wide receivers struggle, it shouldn’t be a surprise if the discussion turns to not having enough guidance from veterans.