Cleveland Browns: News and Notes

It’s April and the Cleveland Browns are still shaking up the roster ahead of the draft along with some other clues about the team’s future.

Generally, the month of April is largely reserved for NFL Draft rumors, pro days and trades. Because of the regime change and a few interesting moves, the Cleveland Browns have made some news that has caused fans and media to speculate on their meaning considering the timing.

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So, let’s go through the various moves and potential hints of things to come and see what impact, if any, they have on the upcoming draft as well as the future of the team.

The Browns released S Donte Whitner

The timing was a little confusing for this move as Whitner pointed out on his way out the door. The only true surprise here is that the move took this long. Whitner was dreadful in 2015 with his only good game coming against the San Diego Chargers. Beyond that, he was abysmal, especially when it came to his angles and tackling.

It seemed as though Whitner knew the writing was on the wall when rumors started floating about Mike Pettine’s job security. Along with Johnny Manziel, no one was more vocal about wanting Pettine to stay than Whitner. Whitner’s not stupid and had to know his best chance for sticking on the roster was in the event Pettine was retained. The second he was fired, it was only a matter of time before Whitner was gone too.

Whitner was a good fit for Pettine’s scheme but a short term fix. He is a deep strong safety that can come up and play downhill or at least he could in 2014. The Browns did draft the heir to Whitner in 2015 in Ibraheim Campbell. Ray Horton has typically favored box safeties that look like extra linebackers such as T.J. Ward.

This, of course, brings that debate back up and how the Browns should have resigned Ward. Ward did not fit where the Browns were going and while the Denver Broncos did win the Super Bowl, Ward was maybe the 10th-best defender on that unit. The Broncos subbed him out for pass coverage when David Bruton was healthy, so he was basically only useful on run downs and now the Broncos are still stuck on his contract while the Browns are done with Whitner.

The Browns waived CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, who has since been claimed by the Miami Dolphins, who were among 4 teams that put in a claim for him

Anything regarding why the Browns decided to cut bait with the second-year corner is speculation. The former Oregon Duck suffered a significant knee injury on a non-contact drill in the team’s preparations for the College Football Playoff. It was a given that he would be unavailable for 2016 and 2017 was a question mark. Even if he could return, it was unclear how close to form he would be.

Using the Non-Football Injury designation, the Browns are effectively citing Olomu’s college injury as the reason for being waived. What’s not known is why. Perhaps he had a setback in recovery or the trajectory of his recovery was not going to be where this regime envisioned. It’s also possible that they simply did not like his feet for the team and failed him on his physical even though he was close to being 100%.

After he was waived, various reporters reached out to Olomu’s representation and were told that he was close to 100% and would be ready to contribute at a high level. Whether this is the truth or not is uncertain, but for the moment, the Dolphins have decided he was worth a look.

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Only time will tell whether Olomu and make the Browns wish they’d have kept him, but the one thing this does not do is suddenly put the Browns in a position to need cornerback help again.

This does, perhaps, put Jaylon Smith’s situation in perspective. Injuries are different and without being a doctor or having any meaningful test results, it’s impossible to know anything about how long Smith’s recovery will take or how good he will back when that happens.

This is incredibly disappointing for Smith and the league as he was among the best pure talents in this year’s class. Olomu wasn’t the caliber of player that Smith was but he was arguably the best corner in his class and a year later, the team has moved on from him. That only cost the team a seventh-round pick. Spending a substantially more valuable asset to acquire Smith on a similar health situation is incredibly risky.

Smith has a medical recheck coming later this month and teams will have their own opinions of his situation but it wouldn’t be surprising if he did not come off the board until day 3 of the draft. While everyone should be holding out hope for Smith to fully recover, it’s not simply a matter of waiting it out and he’ll be back to what he was at Notre Dame before the injury.

The starting secondary may already be on the current roster

Whitner was bad and Olomu didn’t play, yet many seem to be making the leap that their departures are a huge issue for the Browns. The secondary can use more help, particularly at safety, but it’s likely the Browns have the starting secondary on the roster already and fans just don’t realize it. Or perhaps, simply, they don’t want to, assuming that 2015’s performance is a bad omen for 2016.

The team has made it painfully clear they are holding out every bit of hope that Joe Haden returns to form and while Haden can be a top corner in this league, that is a frustratingly rare occurrence. Last year, Haden struggled with injuries including concussions, a broken finger and some nagging leg issues. He played in some games he frankly shouldn’t have because Browns defensive coordinator was so overwhelmingly reliant on Haden that it hurt the rest of the secondary.

Beyond that, Tramon Williams is still here (and he should be). Williams played far better than people want to give credit for, especially when he was the second corner, which he was signed to be. A combination of no safety help over the top too often, being the top corner and giving up late in the season led to brutal play for Williams.

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The defensive scheme was bad, but there isn’t a defense for Williams giving up late in the year when he lost faith in the coaching staff when they didn’t heed his or Paul Kruger’s words in public about their problems.

The Browns still have Pierre Desir, who fell out of favor with O’Neil and it’s still unclear what caused it. When he played, he showed he could be effective. A long corner that can play press or man that never got any consistent playing time despite the ineffectiveness of the defensive overall. Again, not having safety help over the top was a problem all too often but Desir occasionally got beat. Nevertheless, against opponents like A.J. Green, Desir last year was as good as anyone on the Browns.

The hope is that Desir can earn the starting job, taking it from Williams across from Haden. Having Williams, who has been good behind closed doors pushing younger players, who can also help them with depth is not a bad situation across from Haden.

The Browns still have a pile of corners on this roster, so drafting another corner short of ridiculous value, is a waste at this point. Beyond Haden, Williams and Desir, the Browns still have K’Waun Williams, who is an excellent slot corner, Charles Gaines, who should have been a slot corner and the rotting carcass of Justin Gilbert.

Gilbert is going to be here, unless the Browns can trade him to mitigate his guaranteed money. They can afford to cut him if they want, but it’s an expensive cap hit with his bonus money and the team has opened the door for him to make something of himself, saying that he has a clean slate. If he’s still awful in training camp and preseason, maybe the Browns finally release him but he’s getting that time to see if he can turn his career around.

Either way, the Browns have six corners on the roster already and however people feel about them, they are probably the ones they are going to use for the moment. They have too many far more drastic needs at the moment that have to be addressed.

At safety, the Browns signed Rahim Moore from the Houston Texans after losing Tashaun Gipson to the Jacksonville Jaguars. There is no indication the Browns even tried to resign Gipson, for better or worse. The Browns have Jordan Poyer, who is a nice role player and spot starter but Moore is the favorite to start this year based on the current roster.

Horton, who was here when the Browns brought in Gipson as an undrafted free agent out of Wyoming, may feel he can get similar production out of Moore. Gipson went to the Pro Bowl in 2015 while Horton was in Tennessee, so clearly Gipson had something to do with his own success. Nevertheless, Moore has some of the same qualities that Gipson did as far as being a center fielding option.

Obviously, Jalen Ramey is sitting out there as a possible hammer to the position, if they in fact want him to play free safety (I would). Ramsey, according to some, is the best prospect in the entire draft this year and signing Moore certainly doesn’t preclude them from drafting Ramsey, but they are equipped to survive without him as well.

At strong safety, the Brown drafted Ibraheim Campbell in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. The heir to Whitner and an ideal fit for what Pettine’s defense demanded, Campbell is still a talented safety and now Horton can be creative with how he wants to use the position.

Campbell was able to play deep and come downhill to attack the run. Horton could have him do that or simply move him up a level and play a more traditional box safety role. Campbell has shown to be a reliable tackler and active run defender but has a good deal of athletic upside as well.

The Browns do need to add another strong safety to back up Campbell and it wouldn’t be surprising in the least if they add another box safety to complement Campbell and give them some options with how they package their defenses.

Hue Jackson’s press conference said far less than some want to believe

So Hue Jackson had a press conference and to no one’s surprise, it focused almost entirely on newly signed and projected starting quarterback, Robert Griffin III. Naturally, Jackson, as he is prone to do, talked up Griffin which prompted discussion that the Browns are not in the market for a quarterback.

First, this is what Jackson does. He talks up guys and in Griffin’s case, this is deliberate. Griffin has convinced himself he’s yet to have an NFL coaching staff that truly believes in him. Never mind the package of picks that the Washington Redskins spent to acquire Griffin, he apparently doesn’t think they believed in him and Jay Gruden didn’t believe in him.

Griffin is evidently convinced that Jackson does believe in him and wants him to succeed, even though he knows nothing is guaranteed here. That was a major factor in Griffin’s decision to sign in Cleveland. Jackson is certainly going to do everything he can to make sure Griffin maintains that belief in him, so it is natural that he will talk him up in public.

Griffin can be a viable starting quarterback. While in his most recent stay, he was third-string looking up at Colt McCoy and has struggle to stay healthy, he is an extremely talented quarterback. It’s hard to imagine that Jackson will bank on everything on Griffin, but he’s not going to write him off either. If the combination of Griffin and Jackson can produce the franchise quarterback Griffin was selected to be, it’s a win for the Browns.

The fact that Jackson has fans and media thinking that he will go all with Griffin illustrates just how charismatic and convincing a salesman he is. If those people can believe Jackson has that much faith in Griffin, the hope is that Griffin does too. Even though the Browns have Griffin and he was a smart signing, it’s a smart move in conjunction with taking another quarterback, likely with their top overall pick.

Joel Bitonio’s press conference may have said far more than Hue Jackson’s

Along with Jackson and Griffin, Browns left guard Joel Bitonio had his own press conference and his might have bene the most informative of the 3. Bitonio discussed Cam Erving as well as himself.

When it came to Erving, Bitonio really talked up the second year offensive lineman. Erving has basically been told that the center job is his to lose, so he’s focusing on that position in addition to simply getting stronger. According to Bitonio, Erving is as strong as he’s ever been and was impressed by his physical conditioning.

Obviously, Erving has a lot to prove in year 2, but there’s no question he has the physical capability to do the job. The hope is that he used the frustrations of his rookie year combined with the bit of improvement he showed at the end of last season will fuel him to have a big year. The Browns could bring in more center help in the draft (and should even if Erving is good), but aside from John Greco, there isn’t much of a net behind Erving currently.

Erving knows he’s working to play at center. He could still be moved to guard or possibly tackle but that’s really unlikely. Meanwhile, Bitonio has said he’s more than willing to move to right tackle if needed, but the team hasn’t said anything to him about it.

Again, plans can change but the Browns have told Erving that he’s going to be their center, if he can hack it. It seems reasonable to believe that if the Browns were going to move Bitonio, they’d have mentioned it to him. It’s certainly possible that the way the draft plays out will make that decision for them.

Bitonio is more than enough physical ability to play tackle, but the Browns may want to keep him at guard and give them an imposing left side along with Joe Thomas. Assuming that’s the case, the Browns are slated to have Thomas at left tackle, Bitonio at left guard, Erving at center, and either Greco or Austin Pasztor at right guard, which leaves right tackle the big question mark yet to be filled.

Pasztor has played right tackle in the past, but stylistically, he could be the favorite at guard, giving the Browns a potentially bruising interior of their line. Greco is a technique savvy veteran but for what Hue Jackson wants to do in the running game, Pasztor’s more of the bruiser that he’s coveted during his career.

In reality, a lot has happened, but nothing has really changed. Mostly, assumptions have largely been confirmed, giving a clearer picture of where the Browns are operating from as the draft approaches.

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The secondary may not look good, but people should probably get comfortable with it now as that’s probably most of what they are going to have this season. The Browns are still in the market for a rookie quarterback and the big need on the offensive line still seems to be right tackle.

The draft and values may change that last one if they find a great gap scheme guard who is too good to pass up and then move Bitonio out to right tackle, but this class has a lot of talented tackle options.