If you’re going to come out of retirement, even briefly, it
should be for a very good reason. A year
ago, almost to the day, I took a break.
The Cleveland Browns were setting themselves for historic failure,
again, and the numbing sameness became too much.
The Cleveland Indians got themselves to the very edge of a
World Series victory and that didn’t pull me back in, although the victory
probably would have. The Cleveland
Cavaliers getting into the NBA Finals didn’t do it either. And yet here we are a year later and I was
pulled back in by this: Today the Browns
released beloved cornerback and all around good guy Joe Haden. It’s not the loss of Haden so much as what it
represents. It’s the clearest signal
that Browns finally are serious about improving.
This shouldn’t be a pitchfork moment for anyone. Stripped of sentimentality Haden has been in
decline for years. That decline accelerated most certainly because of injuries
but the decline has been clear nonetheless.
It’s been a bit sad watching it because Haden was one of the few
positive things about watching the Browns for many, many seasons. But the game takes its toll on all players
and Haden’s time has come. He wasn’t worth the $11 million he would have been
paid for this year and he wasn’t willing to take a pay cut to a more reasonable
number.
By releasing Haden now the Browns showed the cold
heartedness best exhibited by Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots, the
benchmark for the entire league. It’s
better to move on from a player just before he’s done then after. Many consider Belichick the consummate prick
because he is so willing to cast aside team and fan favorites in the pursuit of
victory. The list is long and
distinguished but know this much: Belichick has rarely if ever been wrong. The players he’s discarded have not gone on
to prolonged glory anywhere else. Either
will Haden, despite all the nonguaranteed and less money showered on him by the
Pittsburgh Steelers.
There’s little doubt that Haden would probably have
contributed something to this year’s defense.
He’s a good player to have in the locker room and was a visible and
positive influence in the community. There’s also little doubt that his
contributions, whatever they may have been, wouldn’t have made a lick of
difference in the won/loss column which, as Belichick knows, cures fans’ hurt
feelings more quickly than anything else. The Browns may be improving, slowly,
but having Haden simply doesn’t move the needle. What his release does do, for once, is give
the Browns an opportunity to find a replacement without the baggage and temptation
to appease a complaining fan base to play a fan favorite at the expense of
developing the future.
The other news the Browns made today was the dumping of a
number one draft pick, offensive linemen Cameron Erving, to Kansas City for a 5th
round pick. That’s good value any way
you slice it. If/when the Chiefs have to
play Erving they’ll find out something every Browns quarterback who lined up
behind him did. Don’t run any plays in
his direction. Design every quarterback
rollout to go in the opposite direction.
Dumping Erving will make far less noise than when the team
parted ways with Johnny Football but it’s no less noteworthy. When it comes to offensive linemen, first
round busts are hard to find. They
exist, certainly, and there’s little doubt that the Browns would be the one
team to find one. But they are hard to
find. Indeed it’s one of the easier
positions to scout. Cleveland.com posted
the press conference when a leading candidate for worst general manager in
Browns’ history, Ray Farmer, touted Ervin’s incredible versatility. That video is revealing also for the shell-shocked
look on former head coach Mike Pettine’s face as he tried in vain to support
that thesis.
That commentary aged about as well as a Trump tweet. The only versatility Erving showed was that
he was an unworthy first round pick at any position along the offensive
line. But know this. Erving was every bit the bust as
Manziel. He simply went about being so
in a much quieter fashion.
None of this means the Browns will necessarily show
significant improvement this season. The
team does have an incredible number of upcoming draft picks though and while
virtually every regime since the Browns 2.0 were launched has blown the vast
majority of picks they’ve had, there still is hope. Success in the NFL is a slow, steady
climb. It takes the kind of thinking
that understands the value of draft picks, the need to not be ruled by
sentimentality and the courage to correct mistakes quickly. Let’s hope all of this doesn’t end up being
an anomaly, you know like it’s been in the past.
