Does this organization ever stop shooting itself in the foot? The Cleveland Browns have suspended DE Jadeveon Clowney for the team’s final game of the season as he accused the team of favoring Myles Garrett over him, showing that the Browns are still a joke.
How hard is it to actual run a competent franchise in the NFL? I don’t know the answer to that question, but Jimmy Haslem is making it seem like rocket science.
For those who don’t know, the Browns have suspended Jadeveon Clowney for the rest of the year as he told the team in a recorded interview for the Browns website that he’ s 95% confident he’s NOT resigning with the team because they are supposedly favoring Myles Garrett over him and the rest of the team. Now, to take the Browns side for just a moment, what was Clowney expecting?
That he would be heralded as the savior of Cleveland and given a golden statue in the center of FirstEnergy Stadium for his 2 sacks this year? Surely, he’s not so delusional that he thinks he’s a better player than Garrett at this stage of both their, respective, careers as that would not only be statically incorrect, but asinine to believe.
Just for comparison, Jadeveon Clowney will end up with 28 tackles, 4 TFL, 4 QB hits, 2 sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR, 3 PD, and 0 INTs as his final season stat line (he’s not playing tomorrow, and the Browns missed the playoffs). Those are decent numbers…for a backup defensive end, not someone who was a former 1st overall pick and is being paid $10M to play football.
I know, it’s hard to believe Clowney was a 1st overall pick.
Reversely, Myles Garrett currently has 53 tackles, 16 TFL, 24 QB hits, 15 sacks, 2 FF, 4 PD, made the Pro Bowl, and became the Browns all-time leading sack leader with a game left to play. So, Jadeveon, I wonder why the Browns are prioritizing Garrett as their star defensive player?
Nonetheless, Clowney does have some good points in his statement to the Browns’ PR. Cleveland has been more focused on accommodating their star players over winning games as is shown by the Deshaun Watson and Odell Beckham Jr. debacles. Both players were brought in as ‘star’ attractions to help the Browns “win” games and become a favorable destination for players, but that bubble was burst as soon as it was put into the air.
Odell Beckham Jr. only regressed from his Pro-Bowl level years with the Giants into an inconsistent, injury-prone mess before getting cut and derailing the Browns offense, while Deshaun Watson has been one of the worst statistical quarterbacks since coming back from his 2-year hiatus and 11-game suspension from football.
I’m sure Browns owner Jimmy Haslem meant for these players to improve the Browns into a playoff-caliber team, but severe mismanagement from the hierarchy and poor roster personnel decision have derailed a once promising roster.
So, with Clowney definitely leaving the team after next week’s game and numerous other valuable pieces heading to the free agent market (Deion Jones, Greedy Williams, Anthony Walker Jr., Taven Bryan, Jacoby Brissett, Kareem Hunt, Chris Hubbard), it looks like the Browns will have to retool once again.
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