Browns release Perrion Winfrey

  Andrew Berry has been very reluctant to give up on his draft choices but after another legal slip-up, Berry and the Browns were forced to release defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey.

Winfrey appeared to be a steal for Cleveland on 2022 draft day when he slipped to the fourth round and immediately endeared himself to Browns fans with a social media outburst that was more than a bit entertaining!

The former Oklahoma Sooner had various issues in the first half of last season that caused him to be suspended for the early season defeat against the Jets, and would be inactive for three consecutive games during the middle of the season.

However, Winfrey's play picked up in the second half as he started playing as part of the defensive line rotation, seeing around half the snaps per game, and earning his first half-sack of what would be his only season in Cleveland.

Winfrey was in trouble in April with a misdemeanor assault charge that was eventually dropped when Winfrey completed a court-mandated program, and last month was robbed at gunpoint along with Browns cornerback Greg Newsome leaving a bar in Cleveland.

The charge against Winfrey appears to be as a suspect in an aggravated robbery and possible violence towards another woman, who had some video/audio of Winfrey during the incident and placed the Browns into a position of having to give up on Winfrey after considering releasing him after the April incident.

From a football perspective, the Browns had loaded up at defensive tackle in the off-season and while Winfrey was far from a lock to make the team, I was anxious to see what a disciplined teacher like Jim Schwartz might have been able to do with Winfrey.

From a non-football perspective, the Browns had to release Winfrey.

The Cleveland Browns, like it or not, aren't in a position to lose the battle for public opinion as long as they employ DeShaun Watson, and you could have made an excellent argument that Winfrey had already received more than enough chances already before the final incident earlier this week.

Andrew Berry had given Perrion Winfrey chance after chance to show anything that might have shown that he was growing past his previous problems and Winfrey did nothing with any of them.

Now, Winfrey is through in Cleveland, and he's likely through anywhere else as well, or at least for a while to come.