Ball Played: Blue Jays deliver knuckle(ball) sandwich to Indians
September 3, 2015J.R. Smith is officially returning to The Land; re-signs with Cavaliers
September 3, 2015It was a bit surprising to see the Cleveland Browns cut Phil Taylor knowing that they would have to pay him anyway. Speculation among Browns fans was that the team just thought one of the younger guys could help them. After the defensive tackle visited the Pittsburgh Steelers, who decided not to sign him, we might know a bit more as to why the Browns were so convinced. Phil Taylor’s knee is apparently a pretty big concern.
The Steelers are not interested in signing former Cleveland Browns nose tackle Phil Taylor because he has a bad knee that will require surgery, a source told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Taylor, a former No. 1 draft choice in 2011 who played at Penn State and Baylor, visited the Steelers’ South Side facility Wednesday, just one day after being released by the Browns. However, the Steelers discovered his knee would take too long to heal and he could not help the team anytime soon.
It’s all too bad, really. It’s too bad for Phil Taylor, who is a popular player in Cleveland. If all that is true and Phil Taylor’s knee is still a question mark or an issue, here’s hoping it gets healthy enough for him to eventually be the monster in the middle of the defensive line that everyone knows he can be when healthy.
[Also See: Phil Taylor thanks Browns fans after release]
5 Comments
Can someone explain the whole injury settlement thingy? If they’re just going to pay the guaranteed salary anyway what is the point of an injury settlement as the guaranteed salary would have been the end of their obligation prior to any settlement. Something seems amiss here (at least the reporting of the situation: can’t be both a settlement and guaranteed salary).
In the land of the NFL nothing seems to make sense. It starts with the NFL thinking it’s you know what doesn’t stink.
He must have wanted to play this year. Maybe browns wanted to put him on IR and he said he wanted to see if he could play through it?
From my understanding, the team only pays a percentage of the contract. The team saves money; the player gets the chance to find a team that will be interested in his services once he returns.
For the team, why pay an injured guy to stay on your IR when the chances of him returning and making your roster are slim to none? Especially if you can save $1M?
For the player, why stay with a team that isn’t going to be interested in your services when you do return from injury? Is it worth $1M to find a team that is committed to you?
I agree with your point though. Something does seem amiss. Part of me thinks that it’s simply the Browns were over Taylor and Taylor was over the Browns. That said, if I was Taylor, I would rather have stayed with the Browns, gotten my full pay, and then found another team next off-season.
Oh, and the settlement also makes it so that the team is off the hook for any salary another team might pay Taylor. So if he signs for $1M, the Browns only pay $4.477M instead of the full. And you don’t have to pay for the rehab/health care costs. Plus, you don’t have a guy who doesn’t like the team hanging around the building. There really isn’t a downside for the Browns if they feel he won’t be healthy this year and won’t be retained for next.