The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Haden’s bark better than bite this summer
In Jeff Schudel’s view, Joe Haden wasn’t the same player in training camp as he has been in the past. Plus, thoughts on the Cavs and Isaiah Thomas and the Indians in September.
The Browns gave up 36 touchdown passes last season. After a month of training camp and three preseason games this summer, they decided Joe Haden, even a healthy Joe Haden, wasn’t good enough anymore to make the secondary better.
Haden played tentatively in practice and in games. Whether that was because he was concerned about reinjuring the groin muscles that sabotaged him in 2016 or because, despite his bravado, he has lost confidence in his ability doesn’t matter.
Haden gave receivers bigger cushions than he ever did when he was a Pro Bowl player in 2013 and 2014. He was an excellent tackler in those years and in the seasons prior to the notoriety that comes from being in the Pro Bowl. He would use his arms to take down the receiver or running back instead of just using his shoulder to knock the guy down the way most defensive backs maddeningly do so.
Executive Vice President Sashi Brown made the decision to cut Haden, but he would not have done something so bold without the blessing of head coach Hue Jackson, who would not have given that blessing without involving defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. More than likely, Williams was the first to say he didn’t view Haden as an elite cornerback. Williams has no ties or loyalty to Haden from seasons past.
“Joe gave everything he had for the Cleveland Browns and that’s all you can ask for as a coach,” Jackson said in a statement. “He was a leader on and off the field. I wish him all the best as he continues his career.”
So now the Browns’ starting cornerbacks are rejects from their former teams — Jamar Taylor (Dolphins) and Jason McCourty (Titans). Briean Boddy-Calhoun (Jaguars) will start the season opener against the Steelers on Sept. 10 if McCourty doesn’t. Boddy-Calhoun is making $540,000 this year, or roughly $10.5 million less than the Browns would have paid Haden. Haden still counts $3.2 million against the Browns’ salary cap this year and next.
The fact Haden quickly signed with the Steelers for three years and $27 million doesn’t necessarily mean the Browns used poor judgment. It just means the Steelers’ secondary is a bigger mess than the one Williams is trying to piece together.
“This isn’t about whether Joe Haden can recapture his elite form,” Joe Starkey wrote in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It’s about whether he’s an upgrade on Ross Cockrell and Cody Sensabaugh, and unless he shows up in a body cast, I believe he is. Give the Steelers credit. Just not too much.”
The Steelers are satisfied with left cornerback Artie Burns, but are shaky on the right side and hope Haden is an upgrade over Cockrell, who currently is listed as the starting right cornerback.
Haden was great with Browns fans. He enjoyed being part of the Cleveland community and I suspect the Browns releasing him won’t change his loyalty to the Cavaliers. If he shows up at Quicken Loans Arena on Jan. 15 when the Cavs host the Warriors, and if the cameras show his smiling face on the Humungotron, Cleveland fans for the first time in history might actually cheer a Pittsburgh Steeler.
• Brown deserves credit for wrangling a fifthround draft pick from the Chiefs for Cameron Erving, the jack of no trades, master of none either, offensive lineman chosen 19th overall in the 2015 draft by former general manager Ray Farmer.
Erving was a sieve at center last year. He started the 2017 training camp competing with Shon Coleman for the starting job at right tackle. He was a disaster there and quickly proved he is incapable of backing up Joe Thomas at left tackle.
Erving probably would have been swept out the door on Sept. 2 when rosters are cut to 53, so to get a fifth-round pick for him next year is a bonus.
• I’ve been told the contracts for preseason television announcers Mike Patrick (play-by-play) and Solomon Wilcots (analyst) expired with the end of the Browns-Bears game Aug. 31 in Chicago. Here’s hoping the contracts are not renewed. A first-year graduate from a broadcasting school would have been more knowledgeable than Patrick. Wilcots added no insight. Every time he opened his mouth he made me miss Bernie Kosar’s analysis more. Cavs might have to rein him in.
You can count on Thomas complaining if his minutes are restricted early in his return because he will see that as affecting his chances for a better contract. He can make up for that with a dynamic effort in the playoffs.