Browns Impending Free Agent Says Time Over in Cleveland

[Vambo]

https://heavy.com/sports/cleveland-browns/mj-stewart-time-over-free-agency/?fbclid=IwAR22R6DmDyDQie4qeoXoiay2G0jXgH3a4RGPu1kkeam6laCAFR7D96muMbM

MJ Stewart came on strong for the Cleveland Browns late in the season when injuries popped up in the secondary, but it appears that he will not be returning next season.

Stewart — who will be a free agent this offseason — put out an Instagram post that alluded to a departure from Cleveland.

 

“Man what A time I had in Cleveland!! I want to thank the organization and the city of Cleveland for giving me such a great experience. Year 4 in the books but my story is just beginning!”

 

With Ronnie Harrison, Grant Delpit and John Johnson III all missing time late in the season, Stewart stepped up, playing nearly every defensive snap from weeks 15-17. He also contributed on special teams.

yo”The only thing that came to my mind was ‘it’s my time now,'” Stewart told reporters during the season. “That’s literally the only thing, and just take advantage of this opportunity. With football, you never know how many opportunities you’re going to get. You don’t know when your next one is coming.”

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Versatility Was Key for Stewart With Browns

M.J. Stewart: "We all believe in each other"M.J. Stewart addresses the media on December 28th, 2021.#PlayerSound2021-12-28T19:31:05Z

 

What made Stewart’s contributions even more impressive was the fact that he played both safety and cornerback, fitting in wherever he was needed.

“I just take pride in being versatile,” Stewart said. “I’ve always kind of been a smart player. It was really mental, just making sure I knew all of the checks and everything like that.”

Stewart finished the season with a career-high 46 tackles. He put together some good tape when called upon so there will likely be suitors for his services, with the 26-year-old showing the upside to compete for a starting role somewhere.

[Bob806]

These are the tough calls all teams have to make in the salary cap era. I thought he did a good job when called upon, especially in 2020 when the secondary was ravaged with injuries.

[hoorta]

3 hours ago, Vambo said:

https://heavy.com/sports/cleveland-browns/mj-stewart-time-over-free-agency/?fbclid=IwAR22R6DmDyDQie4qeoXoiay2G0jXgH3a4RGPu1kkeam6laCAFR7D96muMbM

MJ Stewart came on strong for the Cleveland Browns late in the season when injuries popped up in the secondary, but it appears that he will not be returning next season.

Stewart — who will be a free agent this offseason — put out an Instagram post that alluded to a departure from Cleveland.

“Man what A time I had in Cleveland!! I want to thank the organization and the city of Cleveland for giving me such a great experience. Year 4 in the books but my story is just beginning!”

With Ronnie Harrison, Grant Delpit and John Johnson III all missing time late in the season, Stewart stepped up, playing nearly every defensive snap from weeks 15-17. He also contributed on special teams.

”The only thing that came to my mind was ‘it’s my time now,'” Stewart told reporters during the season. “That’s literally the only thing, and just take advantage of this opportunity. With football, you never know how many opportunities you’re going to get. You don’t know when your next one is coming.”

---

Versatility Was Key for Stewart With Browns
M.J. Stewart: "We all believe in each other"M.J. Stewart addresses the media on December 28th, 2021.#PlayerSound2021-12-28T19:31:05Z

What made Stewart’s contributions even more impressive was the fact that he played both safety and cornerback, fitting in wherever he was needed.

“I just take pride in being versatile,” Stewart said. “I’ve always kind of been a smart player. It was really mental, just making sure I knew all of the checks and everything like that.”

Stewart finished the season with a career-high 46 tackles. He put together some good tape when called upon so there will likely be suitors for his services, with the 26-year-old showing the upside to compete for a starting role somewhere.

"It's a business"..  D'Ernest Johnson is in line for a massive pay raise based on his play this past year too.....  

[SdBacker80]

Ball in our FO court now…sounds like a classy but subtle you want me come get me kinda message 

[Unsympathetic]

He seemed pretty good, his PFF was quite high and he always seemed to be doing something right.. I'd at minimum negotiate with him to let him compete for a starting spot regardless of who else they bring in. He appears to be a decently-priced-vet-who-somehow-outperforms-higher-salaried-other-guys, and you need those on championship teams..

[hx214]

He played well enough that someone will probably give him a shot at being a starter

[SdBacker80]

5 hours ago, hx214 said:

He played well enough that someone will probably give him a shot at being a starter

I would hope we give him a shot. The money we were thinking of giving Harrison  goes to Stewart. 

[tiamat63]

He isn't athletic enough to be a primary defender, at least in man coverage.  Oakland drew up some great designs that were specifically to attack him as the nickel defender.  That was something pretty glarringly noticeable when he first arrived.   Where he has acquitted himself nicely over the 2nd half of the season is getting his eyes into the right places playing safety or some nickel/aux role in our zone drops.  

I said during that Raiders game he was one of the worst nickel DB's in the NFL.  I meant that in terms of what I stated above.      MJ has a couple limitations in his deployment.  But where he has shown success, he has done so with some intensity and physical play, along with a strong bit of tackling open field.  I believe not pursuing at least a price talk with him would be doing a disservice to keeping holes on this roster as plugged as possible.