The Cleveland Browns have released a lot of key players during the 2016 offseason, but their secondary continues to lose depth with the release of starting strong safety Donte Whitner. The former first round pick recorded 24 starts, 81 combined tackles, 1.5 sacks, four pass defenses and a forced fumble.
Whitner has spent time with the Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers and the Browns in his 10 plus season career. The 30-year-old safety has recorded 856 combined tackles, three sacks, 53 pass defenses, 11 interceptions and 11 forced fumbles.
The Browns will likely replace Whitner through the draft or utilize depth players such as Ibraheim Campbell or Sean Baker. The Cleveland Browns have had an eventful offseason as they look to rebound from their quarterback fiasco.
After selecting Johnny Manziel as their franchise quarterback, he failed to take the position seriously in a very public and ostentatious manner forcing the Browns to bench him multiple times throughout the season.
The poor overall showing from the franchise forced the purge of most of the Browns coaching staff and front office execs. After landing Hue Jackson during the 2016 NFL offseason, the Browns seem poised to rebuild the franchise from the ground up.
They released several high profile players which have raised a ton of questions from outside their organization; however, the Browns feel they have enough time to put out a quality product on the football field.
The Browns saw starting offensive linemen leave the franchise as they surprisingly released center Alex Mack and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz. They allowed free safety Tashaun Gipson and wide receiver Travis Benjamin to walk away in free agency shortly followed by inside linebacker Craig Robertson, cornerback Johnson Bademosi and tight end Jim Dray.
In one another surprising move, the Browns released defensive leader and starting inside linebacker Karlos Dansby which led him to being signed by the Cincinnati Bengals. Cleveland did manage to add several players in free agency including imposing inside linebacker Demario Davis from the New York Jets and offensive guard Alvin Bailey from the Seattle Seahawks.
Most importantly, they added a new quarterback in former Washington Redskin Robert Griffin III, who should compete for the starting job during the 2016 season. Following his release, Whitner should have a lot of interest on the open market as teams look to fill the roster needs before the draft.
