4 Veterans the Cleveland Browns Must Part with Before 2015 Season

The NFL league year began on Tuesday and with it free agency. And this year's NFL draft is rapidly approaching as well. It's the time of year that teams add players, but at the same time there are often attendant roster moves to make those additions affordable and sensible from a depth chart standpoint.

The business of cutting veterans is often a complicated one, with positional depth and salary cap implications often influencing decisions. Not every player a team should move on from is in the right position to be released.

With that in mind, here are four veterans the Cleveland Browns should move on from this offseason. Whether they can or will is one thing. But the Browns would be better off without these four players in 2015.

DE Phil Taylor

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With the Browns switching again to a 3-4 base defense upon the arrival last year of new head coach Mike Pettine and defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil, Phil Taylor was moved to defensive end to nose tackle. However, we didn't get much time to see how the positional switch affected Taylor's performance—he suffered a season-ending knee injury in November after he totaled just 10 tackles and one pass defensed.

Given that the Browns have other players, such as Desmond Bryant and Billy Winn, who are more suited to the defensive end position, this might be a good time to cut Taylor. However, there is a big caveat to the Browns' ability to do so: Cash. Isn't that always the case?

Taylor is set to make a fully guaranteed $5.477 million this year. However, the Browns would have been able to cut him with zero cap impact if they did so before the start of the league year on Tuesday. Now that they haven't done so, they are on the hook for that full amount this year, whether they cut him or not.

Given that the Browns have nearly $40 million in cap space, it is a cap hit they could afford. But it would still be throwing away money. Taylor, because he survived to March 10, is likely to stick around in Cleveland for one more year.

WR Travis Benjamin

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With the Browns adding free-agent wide receiver Brian Hartline officially on Tuesday and the team likely to make at least one more addition at the position, one of the team's veterans will be the odd man out. And among the options it seems like Travis Benjamin has the greatest chance of being released.

Benjamin, a deep threat who played 394 snaps last year, according to Pro Football Focus, also has special-teams abilities. On top of his 18 receptions for 314 yards and three touchdowns in 2014, he also returned 15 punts for 127 total yards and 12 kickoffs for 246.

However, Benjamin was targeted 46 times, making his catch percentage a dismal 39.1. And the Browns recently re-signed running back Shaun Draughn, who is similarly as capable of returning punts and kicks as Benjamin. His value on the roster is thus dwindling.

Further, the Browns would have just a $119,250 cap hit should they release Benjamin this offseason while saving $660,000 in cap space. It seems to point toward the Browns being willing to part ways with Benjamin, especially should they sign another free-agent wide receiver or draft one in April.

OT Mitchell Schwartz

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Heading into the 2014 season, there were some rumblings the Browns would move right tackle Mitchell Schwartz to right guard. However, that did not come to pass, in part because (via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer) "The staff believes Schwartz will excel in Kyle Shanahan's zone blocking scheme, which emphasizes linemen who can explode off the ball."

Shanahan is gone, replaced by John DeFilippo, but questions about Schwartz's ability to hold down the right tackle spot remain. In 2014, Schwartz was Pro Football Focus' 33rd-ranked offensive tackle, owing primarily to his positive grade in pass protection—he gave up seven sacks, six hits and 22 hurries in 1,078 snaps played. However, he struggled to help in the run game, which raises questions about his ability to remain at right tackle or to move inside to guard.

With a good deal of high-end talent at right tackle in the draft and the Browns possessing three picks in the first two rounds, it's possible the team moves on from Schwartz, not just as a tackle but as a member of their team entirely. Doing so would only cost them $550,153 against the cap while saving them $1.095 million.

Cutting Schwartz would be a blow to the Browns' offensive line depth, but not a fatal one—not when the Browns can easily replace his production both with other players currently on their roster and via the draft.

WR Josh Gordon

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Probably the biggest no-brainer roster cut for the Browns this offseason is wide receiver Josh Gordon. Gordon is currently serving a suspension that will last at least one year for violating the NFL's policy on substance abuse.

Though Gordon has been a singular talent at times on the field, particularly in 2013 when he led the league in receiving yards though he served a two-game suspension to start the season, he's also proven unable to get out of his own way. Beyond the positive drug tests, he was also suspended by the Browns in Week 17 for repeated tardiness. 

In three seasons, Gordon has totaled 161 catches on 302 targets for 2,754 yards and 14 touchdowns. His football ability is without question. What is in question is his ability to ever get back on an NFL field and, once he does a year or more down the line, whether the can stay there.

The Browns should let someone else answer those questions and focus on the aspects of the future within their control. A $564,115 cap hit is more than an acceptable price to pay to rid themselves of a player who has been more of a problem lately than he's been a boost to the offense.