Everyone is so upset that the Browns are being dismantled, and that’s understandable.
To a point, at least.
Yes, it was not good to see center Alex Mack and safety Tashaun Gipson be allowed to walk in free agency. They were among the best players on the team, they play key positions and they’re still young enough to be able to help a club for a while.
Why the Browns refused to dip into their Terminal Tower-sized stack of cap money to re-sign them is anyone’s guess. Hopefully we’ll learn why soon when the Browns execs and coaches talk. And they have to talk at some point.
In addition, Johnson Bademosi, another one who got away, was the Browns’ best special teamer. Going forward without him is not good for a club that, in lacking a great offense or defense, needs all the help from special teams it can get.
But then there’s other end of things. What needs to be kept in mind is that while the Browns are cutting ties with players you like, they are also doing so with players you don’t like. That is, they are erasing all the foolish moves made by former General Manager Ray Farmer.
So much has been made about the release of quarterback Johnny Manziel, whom Farmer foolishly selected in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, but what about the release of wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, whom Farmer foolishly signed in free agency almost a year ago to the day, on March 20, 2015. Just as Manziel was the worst draft pick in Browns history, Bowe is the worse free-agent signing in team history.
Yes, good ol’ Ray was consistent. He was an equal opportunity knucklehead.
There’s still more of Farmer’s tenure that needs to be dismantled – the Browns didn’t finish 3-13 last season by accident – so be aware that this process is far from over. And if eradicating the tremendous stench from the dreadful Farmer era means that there will be some collateral damage, then so be it.
It’s worth it. It’s more than worth it. It’s a necessary evil.
If you don’t think so, then just remember Farmer’s crowning “achievements” of adding a quarterback whose strongest suit was partying and getting into serious trouble, and adding a wide receiver who, despite having $9 million in guaranteed money over two years, wasn’t good enough to get onto the field. Farmer had to work hard to be that bad. He really did.
And it takes a while to undo it.
