The Cleveland Browns have been nothing short of an unmitigated disaster the past couple of seasons, and it has gotten so bad that players are utilizing wild methods to leave the team.
Take safety Damontae Kazee, for example, who just surrendered $200,000 in guaranteed money in order for the Browns to grant him his release, via Mike Garafolo of NFL media.
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Cleveland signed Kazee in free agency with the hope that he would bolster a secondary that was in need of depth, but he never got the chance to show anything with the Browns.
Kazee played in a grand total of four games in Cleveland, participating in just 48 total snaps. Only 11 of those snaps came on the defensive side of the ball, with 37 snaps coming via special teams.
The 32-year-old was originally selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft and actually got off to a great start with the Falcons. In his second season, he racked up a league-leading seven interceptions to go along with 82 tackles, 10 passes defended and a forced fumble.
Kazee spent his first four NFL campaigns in Atlanta before joining the Dallas Cowboys for one season in 2021, finishing with 52 tackles, a couple of picks, a pair of forced fumbles and four passes defended. He then proceed to link up with the Pittsburgh Steelers for three years, jumping back and forth between a starting role and the bench.
Overall, Kazee has played fairly well throughout most of his career, so it’s strange that he was unable to carve out any legitimate playing time with the Browns.
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But based on how Cleveland has operated as an organization for what seems like forever now, maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised.
The Browns are just 2-6 on the year which comes on the heels of a 2024 season in which they went 3-14. They just had a Week 9 bye and will face the New York Jets next Sunday.
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