Veteran linebacker Karlos Dansby has seen a lot during his 12-year NFL career. At this point, there isn't much that fazes the former Cardinal, Dolphin, and Cleveland Brown. But what he saw last season, his final year with the Browns, was new - even to a man with over 1200 tackles, 40 sacks and nearly 20 interceptions to his name.
Now a member of the Cincinnati Bengals after two seasons spent in Cleveland brown, Dansby is likely still feeling the sting of watching the new Browns brass pick apart the team piece-by-piece, jettisoning veterans like himself and Cleveland-native Donte Whitner and replacing them with, well, no one.
It wasn't surprising then, in the wake of Whitner's unexpected release, that Dansby took to the airwaves to defend his friend and former teammate and, simultaneously take a shot or three at the "Moneyball" Browns.
Dansby ultimately dubbed 2015 in Cleveland, "the worst season I've ever had to experience as a team."
Tell us how you really feel, Karlos.
"There was just too much going on and guys having their own agendas," Dansby said. "(There was) plenty of talent across the board - a lot of talent. Young talent, too. But we just couldn't put it together as a team.
"If you can't and guys don't believe in the system and the program, then you'll never be successful as a team because this is an ultimate team game. It takes everybody on the field working as one - one common goal - and we just couldn't put it all together to have everybody on the field on the same page."
Of course, considering the Browns also cut ties with GM Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine this offseason, Dansby's critiques don't carry the same weight as they would have had owner Jimmy Haslam decided to maintain that structure.
Getting rid of Pettine and Farmer was a clear indication that the Browns owner knew that the organization he had in place - and by extension, players like Dansby and Whitner - wasn't working. And while there's no way of knowing whether the new front office, led by Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta, and Hue Jackson's coaching staff will have any more success than Pettine and Farmer did, it seems Haslam is at least willing to keep trying new combinations until he - presumably - finds one that works.
Dansby and Whitner were popular, productive players during their time in Cleveland. It likely wasn't an easy decision to send them packing. But, as Dansby himself told Whitner after he got the ax, it's simply the nature of the league when one staff leaves and another takes its place.
"I said, 'As soon as I get released, I'm going where I'm going to get a ring,'" Dansby said. "He was like, 'Man, you think they're going to let us go?'
"I said, 'Let's keep it real. We're 3-13. There's going to be a new coach, a new scheme ... All the vets gotta go. It's just how the game goes, man. We've both been on that side of the stick before.'"
