Browns Release Carrie, Harris, Kush
The Browns are in the midst of some serious spring cleaning. On Monday, the Browns announced that they’ve cut cornerback T.J. Carrie, tight end Demetrius Harris, and guard Eric Kush, in addition to the previously reported release of linebacker Adarius Taylor.
In total, the moves will open up more than $13MM in cap room for the Browns with less than $4MM in dead money left over. It’s yet another signal that the club is committed to a significant roster haul under the guidance of new head coach Kevin Stefanski and GM Andrew Berry. All four released players were brought on board by former GM John Dorsey.
Carrie joined the Browns on a four-year deal in 2018 after turning in a strong contract year as the Raiders’ slot cornerback. Over the past two seasons, he’s appeared in every possible game and started in 14 of those contests. Last year, he notched 52 tackles and one interception, but he was unable to get into a rhythm and his coverage was nowhere near his best work in Oakland.
Harris, too, will see his contract terminated at the midway point. In his lone Browns season, he had 15 grabs for 149 yards and three scores. On the line, Kush had a perfect attendance record and started seven times, but the advanced metrics painted him as one of the worst qualified interior linemen in the NFL.
While those four players will be let go, much of the Browns’ core will remain in tact. At his introductory presser, Berry indicated that Odell Beckham Jr. will probably not be traded, despite all of the speculation. The latest misstep of running back Kareem Hunt, meanwhile, won’t rule him out for 2020.
Browns To Release Adarius Taylor
The Browns will release Adarius Taylor, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (on Twitter). By releasing the linebacker, the Browns will save $2.4MM against the salary cap for 2020.
[RELATED: Browns Hire Ryan Grigson]
Taylor – who went by Adarius Glanton until taking on his father’s surname in 2018 – joined the Browns on a two-year, $5MM deal last year. He went on to appear in 15 games for the Browns as a reserve, but the club’s new regime did not see him as a fit for their defense.
Taylor was deployed primarily on special teams with Cleveland and took only 60 defensive snaps in total. By shedding his deal, the Browns will only be left with $500K in dead money and much more to spend on the open market in March.
Taylor, who will turn 30 in September, profiles mostly a special teamer for other clubs at this stage of his career. His most productive year as a defender came in 2018 with the Bucs, when he notched 60 tackles, five passes defensed, one sack, and one interception.
Latest On Myles Garrett
- Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, who was recently reinstated by the NFL, maintains that Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph prompted last year’s brawl with the use of a racial slur, as ESPN.com’s Jake Trotter writes. Rudolph’s camp, meanwhile, continues to strongly reject those accusations. Late last week, his camp responded with a statement (Twitter link) implying that a lawsuit could be on the way. “He is now exposed to legal liability,” Rudolph’s lawyer wrote.
Browns, Joe Schobert To Talk Extension Again
It looks like Joe Schobert might be getting an extension offer from the Browns after all. We heard back in November that the two sides had discussed a deal, but then a month later there was a report Cleveland wasn’t interested in extending him and was prepared to let him walk in free agency. 
A lot has happened with the franchise since then, including the firings of head coach Freddie Kitchens and GM John Dorsey, and now Schobert returning seems like a real possibility. Andrew Berry is in charge of the front office now, and Schobert said in a recent interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio that he’d already met with the new general manager, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. Berry “said he’d be reaching out and talk to my agent over the course of the next couple weeks,” Schobert revealed.
Interestingly, Schobert confirmed that Dorsey’s firing helped spark hope of an agreement again. “[Berry and I have] communicated since [he’s] been hired, which kind of had broken down, I think, with the previous regime,” he said. The linebacker reiterated that he wants to stay a Brown, but was willing to move on as well. “If both sides can reach an agreement, then that’d be great. I’d love that, but you never know.”
Berry had declined to reveal whether he’d speak with Schobert’s reps at his introductory press conference, but it sounds like he will. As Ulrich points out, Berry was the vice president of player personnel in Cleveland back in 2016 when the Browns drafted Schobert in the fourth-round, and that connection certainly doesn’t hurt. The Wisconsin product has been playing at a high level the past few years, and he made the Pro Bowl in 2017. He started all 16 games this past year, racking up 133 tackles, four interceptions, two sacks, and nine passes defended.
Browns Hire Ryan Grigson
Ryan Grigson has joined the Browns and is currently serving in an advisory and consulting role with the team, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com adds that Grigson will likely be hired on a full-time basis after this year’s draft.
Grigson is best known for his tenure as the Colts’ general manager from 2012-16. He earned Executive of the Year honors following his first year at the helm, which saw Indianapolis make the playoffs after going 2-14 the year before (though much of that was due to the presence of rookie QB Andrew Luck, who was a slam-dunk choice for Grigson in his first draft with Indy). While the Colts went 49-31 during Grigson’s five years as GM, they failed to qualify for the playoffs in the final two of those years, and his draft record as a whole was spotty.
He was therefore dismissed in January 2017, and he hooked on with the Browns shortly thereafter. When GM John Dorsey came to town in 2018, he got rid of Grigson, but now Andrew Berry is the Cleveland GM, and he is bringing Grigson back. The two men are very close and hold each other in high regard, per Albert Breer of SI.com (via Twitter). Berry worked under Grigson for four years in Indianapolis, and Grigson worked under Berry with the Browns in 2017, so there is plenty of familiarity there.
Breer adds in a separate tweet that the Browns plan to structure their front office like the Eagles, with one executive heading up scouting, one heading up everything else on the football side of the operation, and both reporting to the GM. Grigson could factor into that framework, especially with his scouting background.
Grigson spent the past two seasons with the Seahawks as a senior football consultant.
NFL Upholds Steelers Mason Rudolph $50,000 Fine
The NFL is finally done litigating the infamous fight between the Browns and Steelers on November 14th of last season. The fight’s signature moment came when Browns defensive end Myles Garrett swung Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph‘s helmet at his bare head. The league’s discipline, which included numerous fines and suspensions for players on both teams, was headlined by an indefinite suspension of Garrett. It was reported earlier today that the league reinstated Garrett and, according to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, the league finally reviewed Rudolph’s appeal of his $50,000 fine and upheld their original decision.
When the news of Garrett’s reinstatement originally broke, one of Garafolo’s colleagues at the NFL Network, Ian Rapoport, noted a previous report from Garafolo that Rudolph’s appeal had yet to be decided due to a backlog at the league office. However, Garafolo quickly responded to Rapoport citing “a source” that informed him the decision to uphold Rudolph’s fine had indeed been made.
At the time of the incident, Garrett claimed Rudolph used a racial slur, which sparked his angry outburst. However, per Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, the team told Garrett to keep the allegation between him and the league before his disciplinary meeting. The allegation leaked to the media nearly a week after the incident and the league claimed they found no evidence to substantiate Garrett’s claims. Regardless, Rudolph did appear to instigate Garrett in the incident and thus, was fined $50,000.
Browns’ Myles Garrett Reinstated By NFL
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett has been reinstated by the NFL, as first reported by Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (on Twitter). Garrett was suspended indefinitely for his role in last year’s brawl against the Steelers, but he has the green light to return after meeting with league brass this week. 
[RELATED: Browns Hire Joe Woods As DC]
“We welcome Myles back to our organization with open arms,” said Browns GM Andrew Berry in a team press release. “We know he is grateful to be reinstated, eager to put the past behind him and continue to evolve and grow as a leader. We look forward to having his strong positive presence back as a teammate, player and person in our community.”
Garrett, the former No. 1 overall pick in the draft, made headlines for all the wrong reasons in November after he swung at Mason Rudolph‘s unprotected head with the quarterback’s own helmet. In the days that followed, Garrett’s camp alleged that the fracas was prompted by Rudolph’s use of a racial slur. The Steelers QB, through his attorney, vehemently denied those charges.
All along, it has been expected that Garrett would be permitted to play this season. Going off of the league’s recent disciplinary history, there will likely be some conditions for Garrett to satisfy even as he’s welcomed back to the field. During his ban, the NFL ordered Garrett to undergo counseling, among other things.
Before the ugliness, Garrett had a reputation as one of the league’s consummate professionals. His lack of a rap sheet, and humanitarian work, probably helped to facilitate his return. Next week, he’ll fly to Tanzania to bring clean water to locals in need.
Garrett, set to enter his fourth season as a pro, registered ten sacks in just ten games last season. Had he played a full season, he likely would have shattered his previous watermark of 13.5 sacks from the 2018 campaign. Despite the time he missed between his first-year injuries and last year’s suspension, Garrett’s 30.5 lifetime sacks are the most ever tallied by a Browns player during the first three years of their career.
Latest On Myles Garrett
Myles Garrett crossed a key item off his rather important offseason to-do list, meeting with Roger Goodell about a potential reinstatement. That was only a step, however. The now-polarizing Browns defensive end must now wait on the NFL to determine if he’s met reinstatement requirements, per Mark Maske of the Washington Post (on Twitter). No timetable exists on this front, but Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer expects a reinstatement soon. The expectation remains for Garrett to return to action in 2020, his fourth season, but it is not certain if he will be able to participate in all of Cleveland’s offseason program.
- The Browns having hired Kevin Stefanski as head coach and added Alex Van Pelt as OC may prompt them to leave one key staff position vacant. Stefanski and Van Pelt’s experience coaching quarterbacks might move the Browns to forgo the hiring of a quarterbacks coach, Cabot writes. Stefanski and Van Pelt have 17 combined seasons coaching NFL quarterbacks. The Browns’ hire of 2019 Broncos QBs coach T.C. McCartney as an offensive assistant may further convince Stefanski the team is covered on quarterback coaches.
Browns’ Myles Garrett Meets With Roger Goodell
Myles Garrett could be one step closer to reinstatement. On Monday, the Browns defensive end met with commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss his return from indefinite suspension, as Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com tweets.
It’s expected that Garrett will be allowed to play in 2020, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Garrett must satisfy certain terms from the league in order to suit up again, however. The league has mandated counseling for the former No. 1 overall pick and other off-the-field steps required for re-entry.
Garrett was at the center of an ugly brawl between the Steelers and Browns in November. After striking Mason Rudolph with his own helmet, Garrett was kept out of the final six games of the season. Between the lost paychecks and a $45K fine, the incident cost Garrett $1.6MM and put his football future in jeopardy.
For his part, Garrett says that the incident was sparked by a racial slur from Rudolph. The Steelers QB and his attorney have categorically denied the accusation.
In December, the NFL permitted Garrett to return to join his club at the team practice facility, which was an indication that he would ultimately be allowed to play in the 2020 season. Still, the league has given no official word on what’s next for No. 95.
Garrett, 24, has recorded 30.5 sacks for the Browns over the past three seasons. Remarkably, he’s done that in just 37 total games – Garrett lost a combined eleven games due to injury in his rookie season and last year’s ban.
Browns Poach 49ers Assistant
- After Joe Woods agreed to become the Browns‘ defensive coordinator, he has already secured one 49ers assistant to make the trip to Cleveland with him. Woods will bring in 49ers pass rush specialist Chris Kiffin to serve as Browns defensive line coach, Alex Marvez of Sirius XM Radio reports (on Twitter). The son of longtime NFL DC Monte Kiffin and younger brother of Lane Kiffin, Chris spent the past two seasons with the 49ers. Previously Lane’s DC at Florida Atlantic, Chris has spent most of his career at the college level.
- Despite indicating his coordinators would return for the 2020 season, Broncos HC Vic Fangio‘s change of heart led for a Rich Scangarello-to-Pat Shurmur transition. Fangio decided a few days after making that proclamation he would fire Scangarello, and Shurmur will become the Broncos’ fifth offensive coordinator since 2016. The ex-Giants and Browns HC’s experience pushed Fangio to hire him. “The experience was an extra crumb that Pat has,” Fangio said, via The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala (subscription required). “I think Pat’s in his early 50s (54) and has coached 20 years, but if he was in his early 40s and coached 10 years, he still would have been the right guy for the job. … Once I decided to make the move, he was the first guy I called.” Fangio and Shurmur coached against each other in the NFC North for two seasons from 2016-17, when Shurmur was Minnesota’s OC.