In a two-day period in August, John Moffitt found himself as a member of three different NFL teams.
After the Seattle Seahawks determined that J.R. Sweezy had beat out Moffitt for the starting job at right guard, the team looked to deal their former third-round draft pick. The Seahawks agreed to a trade with Cleveland to send Moffitt to the Browns in exchange for defensive lineman Brian Sanford, pending physical examinations.
What happened next left a sour taste about Cleveland for Moffitt.
In an interview with Bob and Groz on 710 ESPN in Seattle to discuss his decision to leave football altogether just over a week ago, Moffitt said the Browns failed his physical examination because he wouldn’t agree to a pay cut.
“I haven’t said this publicly -- they suck. Cleveland sucks,” Moffitt said. “They are so terrible and the way that they did me in that front office is so dirty. They failed me on a BS physical.”
Moffitt had a pair of surgeries on a knee during his time with the Seahawks. Moffitt underwent an MRI as part of his physical process and was told by a doctor there was nothing wrong with his knee. Not long after the Browns asked him to take a pay cut. He refused.
“And then my agent finally did some work and figured out that per the CBA you can’t do that on a trade,” Moffitt said. “So now they just call me up to [their] office and say, ‘We’re going to fail you on your physical.’ I went in with the G.M., talked to him, and they tried to get the head trainer to tell me that my knee wasn’t right and they ... were basically trying to lie to me. I was like, ‘That’s great. Thanks. You guys really set me up here because you failed me on a physical [and] the whole league’s going to know.’ ”
The Browns voided the trade. A day later, Moffitt was dealt to the Denver Broncos in exchange for defensive tackle Sealver Siliga. Moffitt passed a physical with the Broncos.
Moffitt elected to leave football and told the Broncos he was retiring last week because he just wasn’t happy playing the game anymore.
None of the three players remain with the teams involved in the trades. Moffitt retired. Siliga is with the New England Patriots after being released by Seattle and Sanford ended up in Oakland after being released by the Browns.