The Cleveland Browns are set to save about $13.3 million in salary-cap space after releasing four players on Monday.
It includes cornerback T.J. Carrie, tight end Demetrius Harris, guard Eric Kush and linebacker Adarius Taylor.
New Browns general manager Andrew Berry released the four players acquired by former GM John Dorsey.
Carrie’s release saves the Browns $6.35 million in salary-cap space, with $1.8 million in dead money, according to spotrac.com.
We've released 4 players
Details » https://t.co/JATkXfeNdF pic.twitter.com/GRNo9UqWNo
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) February 17, 2020
The 29-year-old cornerback played in all 32 games (14 starts) during the last two years, had 126 tackles, 12 passes defended, seven tackles for a loss, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries two interceptions and two sacks.
Carrie’s ability to play throughout the secondary, specifically the nickelback position, makes him versatile.
He played 678 defensive snaps in 2019 (63.4 percent of his team’s defensive plays), and 907 defensive snaps in 2018 (77 percent of the team’s defensive plays).
The Browns released Carrie with two years left on his contract even though he had a relationship with new defensive coordinator Joe Woods, who coached the cornerback as a rookie with the Oakland Raiders.
“He got the best out of me at a really young age,” Carrie told cleveland.com about Woods. “He really shaped me up to the person I am today. He gave me a lot of nuggets throughout the season I was with him on how to learn and how to be a pro and the things that went into it.”
Carrie, a seventh-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Ohio, spent his first four seasons of his NFL career as a member of the Raiders.
“He finds little ways to (get the best out of you),” Carrie said of Woods. “A coach like that is the coach you want around. He was probably the first coach that told me ‘I see you as a guy who can play six-plus years.’ I’m going on my seventh year now. He saw something in me at a very young age. He was doing as much as he could to get it out of me.”
Harris played in 15 games and made six starts in his only season with the Browns.
The tight end caught 15 passes on 27 targets for 149 yards and three touchdowns in 2019.
Harris was due to make about $2.49 million in 2020.
Kush played in 16 games and made a career-high seven starts at right guard in 2019.
Wyatt Teller ended up taking Kush’s starting job on Nov. 3 after the Browns traded Kevin Zeitler to the New York Giants in March 2019.
Kush had one season left on his deal and was due to make $2.075 million.
In 2019, Taylor mostly played on special teams and finished with nine tackles in 15 games.
Taylor did not make a start in 2019 and was due to make $2.4 million in 2020.
The Browns still must consider whether to bring back two players due to become unrestricted free agents: safety Damarious Randall and linebacker Joe Schobert.
The team could also consider cutting defensive end Olivier Vernon, who is due to make $15.25 million in 2020.
NFL free agency officially starts at 4 p.m. ET Wednesday, March 18.
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