TWO DIFFERENT LINEBACKER MOVES

By STEVE KING

The Browns’ move to cut ties with linebacker Christian Kirksey was a sad one, though necessary.

In this day and age of the salary cap, where every dollar must count and bring a productive return, it’s not a good business move – or a good on-field, roster move – to keep a player who, unfortunately, can’t find a way to stay healthy. A player’s ability is his availability, and Kirksey simply hasn’t been available. He’s a drain on resources.

Yes, he was, and is, a great guy – a stand-up guy, a leader, both in the locker room and on the field, when he could get onto the field recently, which wasn’t often and certainly not often enough. That’s the worse part of this, that a team sorely in need of leaders can’t keep one of its best.

But that’s the NFL landscape in 2020. In fact, it has been that way for a long time.

Money talks, as they say.

But let’s not confuse the decision the Browns made with Kirksey with the one they made recently with another linebacker, Joe Schobert. They were very much two different linebacker moves.

Schobert has been very healthy and very productive for a relatively long time, especially when it comes to the Browns, whose players mostly haven’t been both productive and healthy for any length of time in recent seasons. It’s why the Browns have struggled like they have.

Aside from defensive end Myles Garrett, Schobert has been the best defensive player on the Browns. There is no question about that.

But the Browns decided that Schobert had become too expensive to keep. The way they looked at it, and the way many teams look at it now, there comes a time when all players – even the very best ones – become expendable because of how much they’re being paid. Again, that’s because of the salary cap. It’s just the way it is.

So while the move with Christian Kirksey made sense, the one with Joe Schobert was wrapped with much more controversy.

In any event, the Browns are going to have to find a way to replace both of them. And that’s the most important story now going forward.

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