Donte Whitner wasn't too happy with the Browns after his release
The Cleveland Browns cut Donte Whitner Saturday night, and the veteran safety wasn't very gracious about his exit.
Moments after the Browns announced the move, the Cleveland native took some parting shots at his hometown team on Twitter.
The "Moneyball" reference was clearly a jab at Paul DePodesta, the team's chief strategy officer and a former MLB executive who was a big part of the Oakland A's "Moneyball" era. DePodesta was hired in January to help with player evaluation and scouting despite having no experience working in football.
Whitner followed up with a tweet criticizing the Browns for the way they handled his release.
NFL free agency started the first week of March, and apparently the 30-year-old three-time Pro Bowl safety believes he would've been in a better position to sign with a new team if he had been released sooner.
I just wish they had common courtesy and would've done it weeks ago when free agency was going on... #25thHour... But I'll bounce back!
— DonteHitner (@DonteWhitner) April 3, 2016
Whitner might have been regretful about his harsh words for his former team because hours after he sent out the original tweets, he thanked the Browns and wished them success.
Whitner grew up in Cleveland and didn't travel far from home for his collegiate football career -- he was a standout at Ohio State. The hometown ties might explain why his emotions ran high when he learned of his release.
The decision to cut Whitner doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who has been following the Browns' offseason moves. With a new front office, once again, Cleveland is undergoing another rebuild and is purging its veteran players in favor of a youth movement.
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