Former Browns backup lineman released by Dallas

A former member of the Cleveland Browns has been released by the Dallas Cowboys. Takk McKinley is seeing his time in Dallas come to an end after signing to their practice squad last fall.

It has been a rough go as of late for McKinley as he has not been able to catch on anywhere for an extended period of time after leaving Atlanta. The Browns gave McKinley a chance in the 2021-22 season as Andrew Berry was on a quest to improve the defensive line. Unfortunately that quest was unsuccessful as nobody of note besides Myles Garrett remains from that version of Cleveland’s defensive front.

Takk McKinley really did not do a lot in his 43% of defensive snaps played. Registering just 18 total tackles to go with 2.5 sacks, this was not a meaningful contribution to a Browns defense that needed it. While McKinley did have 14 pressures and eight quarterback hits (including four knockdowns), the tangible production was not there, even though some of these secondary areas suggest a better performance that simply is not accurate.

As far any type of return to Cleveland goes, that answer is no. The Browns already supplemented their defensive line by adding Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Za’Darius Smith, and Dalvin Tomlinson. Even if these players were not added to their defense the answer would still be a definitive no. There was just was not enough from McKinley’s time in the NFL to justify having him on what is supposed to be a competitive NFL roster at this point. The best bet for McKinley is to sign with a bad team in an attempt to rebuild value for this time next year and that is not Cleveland.