NFL Rumors: Seattle Seahawks Let Go of Brandon Browner After Disappointing Year

Aug 31, 2016 10:01 AM EDT

The Seattle Seahawks made a surprising move earlier this week after the team decided to release original Legion of Boom member Brandon Browner. According to defensive coordinator Kris Richard, Browner was not able to meet the team's standards.

Browner first joined the Seahawks as their starting cornerback in 2011. During his time with the team, he was able to make a record-setting 94-yard interception return. But, aside from his achievements, Browner also had two suspensions for violating the NFL's policies regarding the use of performance-enhancing drugs and substance abuse.

He left the team in 2014 and later on signed with the New England Patriots. A year after that, he joined the New Orleans Saints.

In April of this year, he returned to Seattle after signing a one-year deal with a veteran minimum salary. However, the reunion between the Seahawks and Browner did not work out well due to his performance at training camps. As a result, he was included in the team's first round cuts, Fan Sided reported.

Richard was the one who made the phone call to Browner on Sunday to let him know about his status with the team. The defensive coordinator noted that it wasn't easy making the call especially since Browner has been a pillar in the Seahawks organization.

"None of them are ever easy but it was something to where personally I was able to give him the phone call and give him the head's up," he said according to Seattle Times. "But it was not easy. He was on the Mount Rushmore of what we have been able to do and what we have been able to build in the secondary exclusively, and on our team overall."

Richard noted that even though Browner still performed relatively well during the practice and training sessions, the team decided to cut him because he fell behind the other players on the lineup.

"He was progressing," he said. "He was getting better every day and we just had some guys who were ahead of him, and that was it. Schematically, doing things we were asking him to do, he was coming along."

"But progressively guys were just in front of him," Richard added.