Cleveland Browns release Phil Taylor
By Marc Sessler
Around the NFL Writer
Published: Sept. 1, 2015 at 04:43 p.m. Updated: Sept. 1, 2015 at 05:04 p.m.
Cleveland's first wave of cuts have come with a slight surprise.
The team announced Tuesday that defensive tackle Phillip Taylor has been released after four seasons with the club that made him their first-round pick in 2011.
Due a guaranteed $5.477 million this season, Taylor missed almost all the offseason program recovering from knee surgery. Browns coach Mike Pettine said Monday that it was too early to know if Taylor could make an impact in games out of the gate.
"Given depth in the room, we knew we'd have to make difficult choices," coach Mike Pettine said Tuesday, per The Plain Dealer. "We felt it was the right decision."
Taylor, of course, was the top name netted in an ill-fated draft-day trade with the Falcons that sent premier wideout Julio Jones to Atlanta. The Browns allowed the Falcons to trade up into their No. 6 spot in exchange for a swath of future picks -- chosen two regimes ago -- that netted a big pile of nothing in wideout Greg Little, fullback Owen Marecic and quarterback Brandon Weeden.
Taylor was a productive player against the run for Cleveland, and would likely still be on the roster if the Browns weren't so confident about the play of first-round nose tackle Danny Shelton.
With Randy Starks and Desmond Bryant surrounding Shelton up front, the Browns -- for the first time this century -- have too much depth to keep around a trusty veteran with knee issues.
That said, we expect teams to line up for his services sooner than later.
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Ready made NT.
Nah, not interested. Hayden is where it is at.