Browns release veteran DL Desmond Bryant

What a crazy sports day this has been. While the Cleveland Cavaliers stole the headlines by trading Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics, Tuesday night, the Browns were in the news for a roster transaction of their own, as the team announced they’ve terminated the contract of DL Desmond Bryant.

The Browns released the following statement by Executive Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown:

“We’d like to thank Des for all his contributions to the Cleveland Browns in his time with our organization. He proved to be a leader and tone setter along our defensive front and we wish him well.”

We kind of suspected something was strange during Monday night’s preseason game. Despite the fact that starting defensive tackle Danny Shelton was out, it was expected that the two starters at defensive tackle against the Giants would be Bryant and either Jamie Meder or Trevon Coley. Instead, it was Meder and Coley who got the start, and Bryant was relegated to second-half duties, playing well into the final moments of the game.

It’s unclear why things changed so quickly with Bryant, who had worked his way back after missing all of 2016 with a torn pectoral. Back on August 2nd, Bryant practiced with the first-team defense and everything seemed to be going in the right direction for him.

I thought the Browns would need Bryant this season, but the emergence of Coley and (presumably) the trust in Meder for depth must have given the coaching staff confidence to roll with the youth. Remember that the club also drafted Larry Ogunjobi and Caleb Brantley this year, so when you factor in Shelton, that’s five defensive tackles poised to make the 53-man roster.

With the open roster spot, the team signed veteran DL Brandon Thompson. Our story on the Thompson signing can be found here.