Cleveland Browns Draft Success #4: Daylon McCutcheon

There is nothing flashy about Daylon McCutcheon's career with the Cleveland Browns. He didn't have an amazing rookie season with a bunch of interceptions. He wasn't going to receive any Pro Bowl nominations. He probably wasn't the type of player who was a household name outside of Cleveland. McCutcheon made the list this high because he was a solid player who was with the team his entire career.

Just how long was McCutcheon's career? Eight years. He spent nearly a decade with the team that drafted him in the third round of the 1999 expansion-year draft. Sure, the Browns should have stockpiled on some offensive linemen to protect Tim Couch back in the day, but Kevin Johnson and McCutcheon ended up being pretty good second- and third-round picks.

While the likes of Anthony Henry, Brandon McDonald, Leigh Bodden, and Eric Wright showed flashes of great play, McCutcheon was the epitome of consistency. I think you could argue that up until this past season, he was certainly the best cornerback this team has head since returning to the league.

Things did not end in the most positive light for McCutcheon, but I really don't have a problem with the way he went out (link from an old PD article):

"I wasn't happy in Cleveland because of all the losing and Romeo knew that," McCutcheon said. "I didn't want to become a cancer on the team."

McCutcheon, a third-round pick in the expansion season of 1999, said the losing drained him and took the fun out of the game. "Every year I was optimistic and no one was more disappointed than me when we lost," he said.

Prior to his release in 2007, McCutcheon and Phil Dawson were the only two players who had been with the team since 1999. McCutcheon supposedly went to coach high school football after he was done with the Browns, and I don't think he tried returning to the league. Cleveland struggled to fill the void at the cornerback position for a couple years after he left.

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