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Christian Kirksey: The case for keeping him in Cleveland in 2020

Kirksey does offer the Browns some value in 2020

Four players got cut by the Cleveland Browns on Monday. Perhaps the only surprising thing about the news is that one of the players was not linebacker Christian Kirksey.

Kirksey is perceived to be on the chopping block primarily because of his salary. He’s due a lot of money over the next two years on a 4-year, $38 million contract extension he signed in 2017. The details, courtesy of Over The Cap:

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That’s a lot of salary cap commitment to a player who missed all but nine games over the last two seasons with injuries. A torn pectoral muscle suffered in Week 2 last year cost Kirksey almost the entire 2019 campaign. It was a big blow to the Browns’ defensive captain and spiritual leader. And given how the team played just two LBs almost exclusively under defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, he wasn’t really missed on the field.

Yet there is still value in keeping Kirksey on the Browns, even with the lofty contract.

It starts with the new defense and coordinator Joe Woods, which promises a return to an actual 4-3. Kirksey is a natural as a 4-3 MLB, a between-the-tackles thumper who attacks downhill against the run and can flow to the sidelines to make plays.

Now factor in Joe Schobert and his free agent uncertainty. Schobert is no longer on the Browns, though they could re-sign him. It would be far more expensive than Kirksey’s deal to bring back Schobert. Losing Kirksey and Schobert both leaves a linebacker room of Mack Wilson and Sione Takitaki as the only players with any real Browns experience. Tae Davis, Willie Harvey, Jermaine Grace — that’s the rest of the LB corps after (smartly) dumping Adarius Tayor on Monday.

If Schobert does indeed leave the Dawg Pound, Kirksey’s veteran presence is even more valuable for the youngsters around him. Takitaki can certainly use the guiding hand of having a guy like Kirksey helping him in the huddle, calling the defense and swarming with him to the ball to help the ailing Browns run defense. With Wilson as the coverage LB, it’s a nice blend of talents and skills.

That’s why the Browns would keep Kirksey. It’s admittedly not likely to happen, but if No. 58 is back in the brown and orange in 2020, he does indeed have value for the team.

Browns saved over $13 million in cutting 4 players

Browns saved over $13 million in cutting 4 players, including T.J. Carrie and 3 other players signed by ex-GM John Dorsey

Monday’s moves to rid the roster of four players created some significant salary cap room for the Cleveland Browns.

In dumping T.J. Carrie, Demetrius Harris, Eric Kush and Adarius Taylor, the new Browns under GM Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski shed some overpriced veteran legacies from the team. Carrie, Harris and Kush all started at least seven games for the Browns in 2019, but they were John Dorsey signings that didn’t fit with the forward vision of the new team, and certainly didn’t fit for their financial obligations.

Here’s what the Browns saved in 2020 cap room with each player:

T.J. Carrie: $6.35 million

Demetrius Harris: $2.5 million

Eric Kush: $2.1 million

Adarius Taylor: $2.4 million

That adds up to over $13.3 million in cap savings that Berry and Stefanski can use to replace them. Other than Carrie, who projected as the starting slot corner, it shouldn’t be difficult to find less expensive players to fill those roles with even better results.

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Browns cut 4 players including starters T.J. Carrie and Demetrius Harris

3 of the 4 were John Dorsey signees last summer

The Cleveland Browns have severed ties with four players from the 2019 team, including three of the most prominent free-agent acquisitions from last offseason under then-GM John Dorsey.

New GM Andrew Berry and the Browns announced the release of CB T.J. Carrie, TE Demetrius Harris, OL Eric Kush and LB Adarius Taylor. All but Carrie were brought to the team by Dorsey and his staff in 2019. Harris and Kush were former Kansas City Chiefs who Dorsey had experience with in his own time with that franchise.

Carrie has been a starter for the Browns for his two seasons in Cleveland, playing both outside and in the slot. He had two years left on his contract.

Harris emerged as a primary short-yardage target but struggled overall in his one year in Cleveland. Kush started seven games at right guard and played in all 16 games. Taylor played almost exclusively on special teams after signing as a free agent.

Browns fans can attend memorial service for the late mascot, Swagger

Swagger the bull mastiff, the Browns’ official mascot, passed away recently

Browns fans can pay their respects and celebrate the life of Swagger, the team’s late bull mastiff mascot. A funeral home in Willoughby Hills will host visitation for Swagger and then a public celebration of life.

Swagger, the Browns’ first-ever living dog mascot, died on February 7th after battling cancer and pneumonia. He was just 6.

The memorial service will be held in honor of the Browns’ first live mascot on Saturday, Feb. 22 at DeJohn Funeral Home in Willoughby Hills. The ceremony is open to all Browns fans. Visitation is 1 to 3 p.m., followed by a celebration of life at 3 p.m.

No word on if Swagger Jr., his son and the new mascot, will be in attendance.

Proposal to have being a Browns or Bengals fan qualify for medical marijuana fails

Being a fan of one of the two NFL teams based in Ohio has been a miserable experience lately, but apparently not miserable enough. A proposal from a long-suffering fan to have Browns and Bengals fandom qualify for Ohio’s medical marijuana requirement was rejected on Wednesday.

The Ohio medical review panel failed to approve the proposal from Cincinnati resident Vincent Morano, a Bengals fan who graciously included the Browns fans into his motion. After considering the proposal, the board rejected the claim that being a fan of the Browns and Bengals qualified as serious enough of a disorder to allow for medicinal marijuana relief. It was one of several rejected proposals.

This only impacts Browns and Bengals fans living in Ohio. Several surrounding states have approved recreational marijuana in recent years.

Jeff Howard hired as Browns DBs coach and passing game coordinator

Howard has worked with Kevin Stefanski and Joe Woods in Minnesota

The defensive coaching staff under Kevin Stefanski is officially starting to take shape. While there have been all sorts of reports on several different defensive assistant positions, the first coach to officially join the Browns behind defensive coordinator Joe Woods is Jeff Howard.

Howard will be the defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator for the Browns defense. He’s spent his entire NFL coaching career working with Stefanski in Minnesota in a variety of assistant positions.

His NFL coaching timeline, all with the Vikings:

2013 – assistant to the head coach

2014-2015 – defensive assistant

2016-2017 – defensive assistant/linebackers

2018-2019 – assistant DBs coach

Before joining the Vikings, he coached at Texas Tech as well as Odessa Perriman High School, made famous in Friday Night Lights. He played linebacker in college at Eastern New Mexico.

Bill Cowher acknowledges the Browns approached him to coach in 2009

Cowher confirmed in an interview with the Canton Repository what has long been suspected

Imagine how different Cleveland Browns history could have been had the team hired Bill Cowher as the head coach instead of Eric Mangini. Based on what Cowher said recently, the Browns tried to make it happen.

Cowher dished on his Cleveland coaching history and potential for more of it in an interview with the Canton Repository, as reported by Steve Doerschuk.

Cowher confirmed that then-Browns owner Randy Lerner met with him to discuss the job opening after Lerner fired head coach Romeo Crennel following the 2008 season.

“You almost needed to go through the process of listening to someone and talking about what they wanted and talking about their football team. I just kept thinking, boy, if people have to talk me into something, that’s not the reason to come back.”

Cowher concluded to the Repository,

“So I really never came that close.”

The longtime Steelers coach also confirmed he has had discussions with other NFL teams since he left Pittsburgh in 2006 but has never had a formal offer or serious interest in returning to coaching. Cowher was recently named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Centennial Class for induction this summer in Canton.

He is a native of the Pittsburgh area but played for the Browns and got his coaching career started in Cleveland under Marty Schottenheimer in the 1980s, the franchise’s peak in the Super Bowl era. The Steelers are the only team he’s ever been a head coach for, despite the overtures from the Browns and others. Cowher has worked as an analyst for CBS since his departure from the coaching ranks.

Former Browns WR Andrew Hawkins wins an Academy Award

Former Browns WR Andrew Hawkins wins an Academy Award as the executive producer of Hair Love

Congratulations to former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins! On Sunday night, “Hawk” won an Academy Award for producing the animated short, “Hair Love”.

Hawkins was an executive producer of the film, directed by Matthew Cherry, who is also a former NFL wide receiver after starring at that position at the University of Akron. The award-winning film deals with the travails of an African-American father trying to do his daughter’s hair for the first time.

Hawkins played for the Browns from 2014-2016 and was a fan favorite during his time. He also co-hosts the Thomahawk podcast with former teammate Joe Thomas. It is his first Oscar.

Hair Love runs just over six minutes and it’s a lot of fun:

Nick Chubb lands in PFF’s top 25 players of 2019

Chubb was PFF’s top-graded running back for the 2019 season

Nick Chubb had a heck of a 2019 season. The Browns running back led the NFL in rushing for most of the year before being overtaken in Week 17 by Tennessee’s Derrick Henry.

Henry might have won the rushing title, but Chubb wound up being the best RB in the NFL in 2019 according to Pro Football Focus grading. Chubb captured the title of top-graded running back in PFF’s play-by-play grading of every player.

Chubb finished at No. 23 overall. That’s one spot ahead of Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey.

Despite not being given the same weight of opportunity as some other backs, Nick Chubb still remains the most efficient runner in the game over his young career. This season, he finished second in the league in rushing, with 1,122 of his yards coming after contact. He averaged more than a full yard after contact than Christian McCaffrey and was second in the NFL in broken tackles (66). Chubb also had 13 broken tackles on his 36 catches out of the backfield, but he saw a fraction of the targets that the most productive receivers did at the position.

Henry finished well down the list at No. 65, proving there is more to playing running back than just running the ball.

Browns Hire T.C. McCartney As Offensive Assistant

This is McCartney’s second stint with the Browns

The Cleveland Browns are not quite done completing their staff. New head coach Kevin Stefanski made another hire with the addition of T.C. McCartney. The former quarterbacks coach of the Denver Broncos will be joining the Cleveland staff as an offensive assistant.

This will be McCartney’s second stint on the Browns staff. He was an offensive quality control coach in 2014 under Mike Pettine and Kyle Shanahan.

After his first stint in Cleveland, McCartney worked in San Francisco in 2015 with the same quality control title. It should be noted that despite working with and being credited for helping to develop rookie quarterback Drew Lock in Denver last season, McCartney was fired after the season.