The Cleveland Browns waived safety Ibraheim Campbell on Thursday, leaving just six draft picks on the roster that were made by former general manager Ray Farmer.
Campbell appeared in 37 games (10 starts) after being drafted out of Northwestern with the 115th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. He made 68 tackles (51 solo), one pass deflection and one fumble recovery during his tenure Cleveland.
That leaves Joel Bitonio, Christian Kirksey, Danny Shelton, Nate Orchard, Duke Johnson, and Randall Telfer as the six who remain from the failed regime of Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine.
Add in the fact that the regime before them of Joe Banner, Mike Lombardi and Rob Chudzinski swung and missed on all five picks in the 2013 draft which granted it was a bad draft class in general but to hit on 6 out of 23 picks in a three draft span is not building sustained success.
Once again, it all starts at the top of the organization with the ownership group. Jimmy and Dee Haslam has failed to set this franchise up for success by putting the right people in place.
The NFL arranged them with Joe Banner to lead the organization and he brought in Michael Lombardi who while he had a long track record of working in the NFL, didn’t have a great success rate.
They were fired after one season just weeks after hiring Mike Pettine as head coach after a disaster of a coaching search.
Haslam put Pettine and Farmer together for a crucial offseason with a ton of draft picks and cap space.
They tried to change the culture by getting rid of younger talent for veteran leadership but they failed in what could be one of the best drafts in league history with failed first round picks Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel who were surrounded by now All-Pro talent that the Browns surpassed on.
Farmer did find some key pieces in Bitonio and Kirksey who have been solid pros during the last several seasons.
2015 was another draft with a ton of draft picks and Farmer once again found some solid pieces. Shelton and Duke Johnson have been solid performers and are foundational pieces for the future. Orchard has had flashes as a pass rusher but not consistent while Telfer is a solid blocking tight end at best.
Yet failed on another first round pick in Cam Erving who is no longer with the team. He failed to get a wide receiver when he had opportunities to draft one and don’t make a case for Vince Mayle because he struggled from the moment he walked into the organization and was released by the end of preseason in 2015.
I know there’s people out that want the organization shaken up after a 1-23 start with this latest regime of Sashi Brown, Paul DePodesta and Hue Jackson and I’ll admit with the dysfunction going on that a change is likely necessary.
What some don’t realize is that the past two regimes left a giant mess to clean up and this current regime has. There’s been talent added to the roster and it’s getting better, it’s just that at the end of the day the organization has failed at finding a franchise quarterback and has let other teams capitalize on the team’s mistakes.
If they get brought back for another season, then maybe Haslam believes this regime can turn it around despite the lack of winning, I don’t believe that to be the case right now but I know the giant mess they inherited and I think the rest of the mess was swept out today.