Getty ImagesA Cleveland native who played quarterback for the Browns the last two years is leaving town. Another local product who catches passes is coming home.
Receiver Brian Hartline, a native of Canton, Ohio, has agreed to terms with the Browns, according to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus. It’s a two-year, $6 million deal.
Hartline was due to earn a base salary of $5.9 million with the Dolphins in 2015. He was cut late last month, and he had visited the Browns, Bears, and Texans. The Patriots also were believed to be interested.
Hartline instantly upgrades a receiver position that needs plenty of help.
thought he was patriot bound but i guess we’re signing andre johnson on the cheap
#worldchamps
Cool, but still need a No. 1 WR (outside of Josh Gordon).
Zero Superbowls. This guy has signed away his useful years to win at best 3rd place in his division. LOL.
I’m stunned the Eagles didn’t sign him…..sarcasm intended
Yet another overpaid free agency pick up by the Browns; at least they are used to it.
He is a class act…who is coming home. Nice choicer Brian! Cleveland will love you…
good luck winning there……..
The Patriots were not interested.
Solid but unspectacular signing. Get another outside WR at #12 or #19 and let Hawkins/Gabriel work the slot.
Nice pick up by the brownies, hope they still get a #1 wr with the ability to stretch the field. A small step in the right direction, hopefully some more signings happen tommorrow.
Big signings for the Browns = McCown and Hartline. Wow! Glad I’m not a Browns fan.
Pro football focus ranked him 103 out of 110 wrs last year… Ray farmer is a genius… Get the parade set for next feb
An easy decision for Hartline. All he had to do was look at the defensive backs he’d face in Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
The Browns just have ONE problem with signing WRs. Guess what it is.
With the QB situation in Cleveland, he won’t be catching many passes this year. Not sure he’ll be there long enough to see an upgrade at that position.
Wow, first MeCown, now Hartline.
Damn, the Browns are really setting the world on fire with these HUGE scores.
Good pickup now they just need someone who can throw it to him. Maybe Manziel will wake up.
Great signing, always liked Hartline, Browns got lucky he wanted to return home.
Actually, this guy has sure hands, runs great routes and is an awesome goto guy. The Browns got a solid receiver who will catch 1000 yards and 6-8 TDs. The only reason he struggled in Miami after back to back 1000 yard seasons is because they changed the offense to focus on short dinks and dumps to the slot, rb and tight end. Cleveland improved today.
Good player who can lead the team in Rep….. Good luck hartline and phinsup
He’ll only be around 2 hours away from his drive throughs.
Career suicide
Solid career move Brian!
Patriots fans are feeling betrayed as they put their faith in the words of Drew Rosenhaus . Once Mary Kay Cabot reported that the Patriots were in the hunt, they just assumed it was a done deal.
.
Another bold moves in our quest for mediocrity !
Wayne, I agree with your post except for the 6-8 TD part. Hartline is a reliable between the 20s guy but has a hard time getting to the end zone. 4 tops but he is clutch on 3rd downs.
Every loser that posts negative comments on here needs to get a life. As a Browns fan, what free agent wants to go play for a team that was such a mess the last few year? However, for the football slow kids, each team has to spend a minimum amount so when there is too much cap space, you have to overspend. To get any significant upgrades, why would you come to Cleveland???? Money!!!
QB friendly receiver. Average to below average skills. Horrible #1 WR. Below average #2 WR. Good #3 WR. Great #4 WR. Body catcher. No big plays. Will pick up 1st downs.
^^ exactly
Hartline is a great possession receiver, but hardly a redzone target.
12 TDs in 6 years with the Phins. In ’12 he caught almost 1100 yards but had only 1 TD. Only 1. In fact for a 3 year stretch he only caught 1 TD a year.
Great guy when happy, clutch catches in between the 20’s.
Signed for less than half of what he made last year.
Glad he gets to play where he wants and should bring a stable WR option to the Browns.
One For The Thumb says:
Mar 9, 2015 8:20 PM
The Patriots were not interested.
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The patriots had no cap space.
Good luck Brian, thanks for everything.
Problem is he has no one to throw him the ball. I see his stats only going down.
Hope they have a QB who can throw to him. Last season he dropped too many passes. He could have gone back to the Dolphins for more than he is getting from Cleveland. Good Luck there Brian, you may need it. Not quite like South Beach.
Money talks, good for him….happy the Bears kept their Pen in the Pocket Protector.
Doesn’t score touchdowns. Possession receiver who body catches too many balls. Works the sideline well. Goes down at contact. Long strider, some hip fluidity but not like a slot guy. Little bit of height at6’2″ but doesnt play tall. Biggest issue this last season was not just a switch in offense, but coming off a PCL year the year before. Didn’t recover well. Getting older too. Need to see if he can get separation still.
Browns got a tough, reliable possession receiver there. Now they just have to get a homerun-hitter type or two, and get them the ball with some consistency…
Seriously, what’s he going to do with the Browns? Throw the ball to himself?
george1859 says:
Mar 9, 2015 8:28 PM
Wow, first MeCown, now Hartline.
Damn, the Browns are really setting the world on fire with these HUGE scores.
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Baby steps man, chill out. Let’s catch the river on fire again and go from there.
Good signing for the Browns. Add in Andre Holmes or Cecil Shorts, along with a rookie, and the WR corps will be solid.
I don’t exactly see the Steelers, Ravens or Bengals doing anything other than cutting people now. At least the Browns are making positive moves.
Swing Batter and the Patriots whiffed and Got Turned Down!
Congrats to the Brown… Hartline is a solid player and will help with clutch catching chain moving. He is not a YAC guy or deep threat, but runs great patterns and is always open. The Dolphins owe you this from that Devone Bess disaster. I am sure this one works out better. Good Luck Brian!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Who have the Bengals cut!? Robert Geathers?
That’s it!
Could still get rid of Domata Peko and add another
$3 million in cap money. Restructure Hall’s contract
and add some more cap money.
Bengals don’t need to cut a bunch of players to get
under the cap. They have about as much cap space
as the Browns do. Only difference is they have a lot
of better players and draft 1000 x better than the
Brownies!
Oh yeah. They also cut Mike Pollack, back up offensive lineman.
Oh no!!! What will they ever do!!!!!
Brian thanks for not going to NE. Im a Dolphins fan here to all the the Browns fans you guys got a 1000 yrds receiver. Brian is a smart guy that run good routes and guys got a steal for him. How do you get a 1000 yrd receiver for only three mil? biggest knock on him is he dosent get in the endzone. The only reason he not in Miami Is because he dosnt fit the NEW offensive system here In Miami but before that he was Tennehill favorite target. Hopefully he will fit the offensive system for the Browns….If so he will get you 1000 yrds
Welcome home, Brian. Hopefully, your return goes better than it did for Chud or Hoyer.
As a Miami fan I am saddened to see him go. Browns fans: He is a quality player and a great person on and off the field. He will def make an immediate impact on offence.
I forgot to add if you guys ever figure out who going to throw the ball to him.
Next move for the Browns should be to go after a big name running back, like Ben Tate!
You Browns haters are hilarious. They sign one guy for $3M/year, a day before free agency officially begins and you’re on here mocking their “big” signing. Get a life…