Second-year defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey is back in headlines and more hot water after he was charged with assault on a woman this past week in Houston, Texas. Winfrey’s stay with the Cleveland Browns has been anything less than smooth as he had a rocky rookie season making the transition from the college level to the NFL
It made sense for the Browns to take Winfrey when they did as the risk was minimal and the positional need was steep. But something else makes even more sense now: it is time for the Browns to end his tenure in Cleveland.
A second round talent that falls to the fourth round
Winfrey caught waves on draft day early in the third day when the Browns selected him early in the fourth round. He was energetic and exuded “gets us” energy as he barked like a dog on Instagram. And to the Browns’ favor, there is little risk in selecting troubled players in the fourth round. The amount of dead money attached to a player selected on day three is extremely minimal.
He was by far the best defensive tackle on the board at the time the Browns took him, and the team needed a defensive tackle badly.
Former Browns’ general manager John Dorsey is a prime example. He drafted players like Tyreek Hill (hit) and Antonio Callaway (miss) on day three of the draft. Both players fell down the board due to significant off-the-field issues. He signed Kareem Hunt with the Browns (hit).
To take a shot on Winfrey that late, especially looking at the hit rate on players selected on day three (seriously, look up the hit rate of day three picks and especially the history of the 108th pick), does the Browns no harm if it does not work out.
Winfrey has had not one, not two, not three, but four chances in less than a year
There is a reason Winfrey dropped in the draft.
And the Browns experienced that rockiness in the first year of his NFL career. From being benched in a preseason game for being late to practice, to getting suspended from a regular season game for continued tardiness, to sustaining a concussion from getting into a scooter accident to his newest issue of getting charged with assault on a woman, Winfrey described his rookie season as “one of the worst years of my life.”
We have not even reached the year anniversary of Winfrey’s selection in the draft, and his time may be coming to a close. He has had every opportunity to prove he has what it takes to be a professional, and he could not stay out of the news in the first offseason of his NFL career.
The financial implications of cutting Winfrey
Again, there was no risk at all to drafting Winfrey in the first place, and the consequences of parting with him are just as minimal. According to Over the Cap, the Browns will have to eat just $609,600 in dead cap to move on from Winfrey and will save almost $500,000 against the cap this year as well.
If the Browns wait until June 1 to cut Winfrey as well, they only have to eat about $200,000 in dead cap and save upwards of $900,000 in cap space for the 2023 season. The Browns already used both of their post-June 1 designations on John Johnson III and Jadeveon Clowney, so this could explain why he has yet to be cut from the team.
For the Browns, more than anything, the risk of cutting Winfrey has more to do with how thin the roster is at the defensive tackle position than anything financial. The Browns are still in the market for a second veteran defensive tackle to pair with Dalvin Tomlinson and signed Maurice Hurst and Trysten Hill to breed competition at the bottom of the room. They still have the 2023 NFL draft as well to find a defensive tackle.
It looks like Winfrey is not going to work out. And that is okay. The Browns took a low-risk, high-reward shot that has not panned out. It happens to every NFL general manager.
TL;DR: Winfrey has had too many chances already
Given the hit rate of day three picks, there was no harm in selecting Winfrey, seen as a mid-day two talent, with pick no. 108 in the 2022 NFL Draft. Especially given the status of the defensive tackle room a year ago, taking the best one on the board was worth the risk for Berry and his team.
However, at some point, the leash runs out.
There was no risk in selecting him, and there is no risk in cutting him.
It’s time to end the Perrion Winfrey experience, and it may likely come to a close after June first.
