Joe Schobert should be back in Browns plans with Berry as GM
The happiest man on the Browns roster these days has to be linebacker Joe Schobert.
Former general manager John Dorsey did not sign Schobert to a contract extension before parting ways with the Browns on Dec. 31 and did not seem interested in doing so, to hear Schobert’s side of the story.
Things should change with Andrew Berry as general manager. Berry was the vice president of player personnel in 2016 when the Browns drafted Schobert in the fourth round with the 89th overall pick.
The Browns selected 14 players in the 2016 draft. Seven of them no longer play in the NFL. Schobert and wide receiver Rashard Higgins are the only ones from that draft still with the Browns.
Free agency begins March 18. Normally, players still unsigned less than seven weeks before free agency starts are eager to see if they can strike it rich with another team. On Dec. 23, though, Schobert said he wants to stay with the Browns. Freddie Kitchens was already on his way out at that point, but no one expected Dorsey to be out of work eight days later.
“This is the place that gave me my chance in the NFL,” Schobert said in the Browns’ locker room a day after losing to the Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium. “Just since I’ve been young, I’ve been a loyal guy. Just the way you grew up — you play in the Waukesha West Youth Football system, you go to Waukesha West High School.
“You commit to a college. This day and age people transfer all the time, but stay in college for four years and you get to the NFL and it’s the team that brought you into the league. There’s a certain amount of respect there, there’s a certain amount of pride in trying to turn it around and play for the team, play for the city and be a successful team. The NFL, at the end of the day, is a business, so it’s different than all the previous levels of football I just talked about, but that’s just the kind of guy I am.”
Schobert led the Browns with 133 tackles in 2019. He also had a team high four interceptions. He made 103 tackles in 2018 despite missing three games with a hamstring injury. He made the Pro Bowl in 2017.
Berry should try to re-sign Schobert before free agency starts — not just because he was involved in picking him in 2016 but because Schobert is a team leader and a good, though not great, linebacker. Berry will have to find someone to replace him if he does let Schobert walk.
