Former Browns linebacker Paul Kruger didn’t elaborate on his belief that the termination of his contract was mishandled by the team. Here’s a safe guess: Cutting Kruger now makes it harder for him to find another job at a similar salary.
The Browns took a risk by holding onto Kruger through the offseason program, training camp, and three weeks of the preseason. If Kruger had suffered a serious injury, the Browns would have owed his full $6.5 million base salary for 2016.
As it stands, Kruger earned $27.715 million from the Browns, and he exits with a cap charge of $1.2 million this year and $1.2 million next year.
It’s unknown whether the Browns tried to trade Kruger before cutting him, or to persuade him to cut his salary to a lower amount before cutting him loose. Regardless, it’s easy for Kruger to think he should have been given more of a chance (like linebacker Karlos Dansby and safety Donte Whitner) to land elsewhere. Now, with rosters soon reducing from 90 to 53, Kruger will be hard pressed to begin to replace the $6.5 million that he won’t be earning with the Browns.
In theory, the Browns could still bring him back at a reduced rate, if/when he realizes that other teams won’t be offering anything close to what the Browns would be willing to pay -- or after someone still on the roster gets injured. Kruger’s feathers would need to be unfurled before that ever happens, however.
