Brandon Browner stamps his status of hatred from Saints fans
By John Hendrix
In one short year, Brandon Browner has become public enemy No. 1 with New Orleans Saints fans – and that’s no easy feat to carry out.
If you’ve been a fan of the black and gold for any time in the last two decades, then you can easily rattle off the notorious suspect of “New Orleans Most Wanted”. Rob Ryan, Junior Galette, Jason David, Mike Ditka, Gregg Williams, and Aaron Brooks are just some of the names that are liable to roll right off the tongue when you think of when you start to assimilate a top list of the most hated Saints in franchise history.
Brandon Browner set the standard for a new kind of awful in the league when he took to Instagram to give rebuttal towards a fan who criticized him. Browner said, “I took that few millions and ran with it sucka,” and it will now be something that will follow Browner long after he decides to hang it up.
After several visits and reported interest from multiple clubs, the Saints would sign Browner to a 3-year, $15 million deal. The contract guaranteed Browner $7.75 million, and immediately the thought was the black and gold acquired a stellar cornerback who could bring a lot to the table. The Saints, who easily find a way to land players by guaranteeing large portions of their contracts and backloading deals, made an investment that went down the toilet en route to the sewers. Except, the toilet got clogged in the process.
The Brandon Browner timeline of shame
- March 12: Browner signs a 3-year, $15 million contract with the Saints
- July 19: Browner makes a comment that he eventually wants to return to the Seattle Seahawks during Richard Sherman’s softball game
- August 13: Browner suffers leg injury in team’s first preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens, and fans were devastated
- September 2: Browner returns to practice after the leg injury
- November 2: Browner sits with a league-leading 14 penalties
- November 8: Gets into it with local reporter following loss to Titans
- November 15: Avoids making a tackle to land cheap shot on Redskins offensive tackle
- December 6: Browner and Dennis Allen publicly exchange pleasantries on sideline
- December 7: Browner and Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe exchange words on Twitter
- December 13: Ties the NFL record for most penalties by one player against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- December 21: Breaks the NFL record for most penalties against the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football
- December 27: Browner is booed by the Mercedes-Benz Superdome crowd during a home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars
- February 5: Browner reveals that he will no longer be with the Saints via Twitter
- March 10: Team officially releases Browner
- April 6: Browner claims to have played through a torn MCL
- April 17: Browner reunites with the Seattle Seahawks on a one-year deal
- May 30: Browner makes silly comment about the Saints being ‘weak’ and ‘taking the few millions and ran with it’
Browner’s extremely disappointing season in New Orleans finished with a Pro Football Focus grade of -43.6 on 1,039 snaps, which was the lowest on the team and worst out of 118 total cornerbacks. Opposing quarterbacks finished with a 122.5 quarterback rating against Browner. Season totals saw Browner targeted 88 times, and receivers finished with 56 receptions, 964 yards, and 7 touchdowns. Opposing receivers also had 382 yards after the catch, which was third-highest among cornerbacks.
The other side of this coin is that Browner was appointed a team captain of the defense in 2015. When you think about another player (Junior Galette) that served in the same capacity the previous year, you can’t hope but think it’s just a bad run of gris-gris. Perhaps a great deal of blame should be placed on the team’s inability to just simply pick’em.
No matter how you slice it or where you point the finger at, the Saints can’t afford to have another player like Brandon Browner grace (or disgrace) their franchise. At the end of it all, Browner has most assuredly pole-vaulted himself as the worst free agent signing in New Orleans Saints history.