Browns waive S Tyvis Powell with unfortunate timing

On Friday, the Cleveland Browns waived safety Tyvis Powell, the Ohio State product who was claimed off waivers earlier this offseason from the Seattle Seahawks. At the time Powell was claimed, some fans thought he could be a surprise contender for the starting free safety role — the club did not address safety at the start of free agency, and Ed Reynolds was really his only competition on the roster.

But since the draft, the Browns added several new pieces to the secondary who could contribute at free safety, including Jabrill Peppers, Jason McCourty, and Calvin Pryor. Before the start of mandatory mini-camp this week, Gregg Williams must have seen enough to feel that he’d seen enough of Powell during OTAs.

The timing of the release ended up being very unfortunate, though. Before noon on Friday, Cleveland Indians reporter Zack Meisel tweeted that Powell would be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch later that night at the Tribe game:

A few hours later, the news came down that Powell had been waived. A team spokesman told Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer that the Browns “had no idea Powell was throwing out the first pitch, and by the time they found out, it was too late to pull back the roster move.” Otherwise, you can imagine that the team would’ve waited a day or two. Cabot adds that the ceremonial first pitch was set up through Powell’s representatives, not the Browns’.

Powell still went through with the first pitch, despite the news:

With the Browns’ roster at 89 players, one can only assume that Cleveland has a player in mind who they’d like to sign for the team’s mandatory minicamp next week.