Here are some thoughts as the Browns on Saturday, about a half-hour before the 4 p.m. deadline, made their “final” roster cutdowns to get to the regular-season limit of 53:
*We put the word “final” in quotation marks because these cutdowns are anything but final. The Browns made 20 moves on Saturday, and they may make about half that many again over the next week or so as they peruse other teams’ releases and see where those players might fit in, mostly toward the bottom of the roster. You can take it to the bank that the Browns are far from finished re-tooling this team.
*You have to like the fact the Browns kept almost all of the young players they brought in, continuing to purge the roster of veteran players who simply can’t play to do so. Will you really miss players such as wide receivers Taylor Gabriel and Marlon Moore?
*As we’ve been saying all along, keeping all these young, inexperienced players means the Browns will struggle mightily through much of the season, especially early. There’s just no other way around it. This total and complete bleaching of the roster had to happen in order for the Browns to have a chance to improve and eventually get to where they want to go. It’s some big steps backward for – the Browns hope – some quantum leaps forward in the long run. The Browns will get better as the weeks go on, and by the end of the season, they will be much improved. It won’t result in many wins this year, of course, but keep in mind that in seven of the last eight seasons, the Browns won five or fewer games. Now, after going through all that, where did that get the team? Nowhere, that’s where! The members of the current regime are hoping that if the fans are willing to be patient for another year or two, perhaps their misery will finally be over. Are you willing to do that?
*Speaking of questions, can you believe that the Browns got a sixth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft from the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for cornerback Justin Gilbert? It reminds me of the time in high school that a friend of mine was actually able to swap a car that leaked oil by the quart for a much better car. Perhaps the Steelers see something in Gilbert, but I can’t imagine what it is. Sure, Gilbert was the No. 8 overall draft pick in 2014, but he has been an abysmal failure in his two years with the Browns. Holding on to players like that get people fired. Just ask Mike Pettine and Ray Farmer.
*Indeed, the less scent of Farmer or Pettine or Joe Banner or Mike Lombardi there is on the roster, the better off the Browns are. The Browns recently also got rid of linebacker Barkevious Mingo, the No. 6 overall draft pick in 2013. Yes, Mingo had a nice debut with the New England Patriots, but Bill Belichick does that with a lot of players. He has that touch. No one one really does. And I’m betting that even with Belichick, Mingo’s good play doesn’t last. Let’s watch and see. All I know is that Mingo was a colossal bust with the Browns after they tried anything and everything to get some production from him.
*Finally, did you notice that the Philadelphia Eagles, who host the Browns on Sept. 11 in the regular-season opener, dealt Sam Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday and plan to start rookie Carson Wentz at quarterback when he gets healthy? Wentz was taken with the No. 2 overall draft pick the Eagles got in a blockbuster trade with the Browns. If Wentz isn’t healthy, then Chase Daniel will start. Either way, the Browns will, of course, still be underdogs, but with Wentz or Daniel playing instead of Bradford, their chances to pull off the upset go up dramatically.
