Browns clearly didn't learn from their Deshaun Watson mistake, as it haunts them again

Building an NFL roster can come in all different shapes and sizes. There's really no cookie cutter way to construct a team. Teams can opt to build their roster to fit a certain code of conduct, only trying to pursue players that fit a high standard of excellence, both on and off the field.

And then there are teams like the Cleveland Browns that simply don't seem to care one bit about a players character before they get them on the roster. The Browns are notorious for signing the lowest level of human being that is legally allowed to play professional football.

They made this very apparent when they signed Kareem Hunt in 2019. Hunt was caught on video assaulting a woman and was released by the Kansas City Chiefs and suspended by the NFL. Cleveland wasted no time in picking up the talented running back despite his character issues.

Then they gave up multiple draft picks for Deshaun Watson and gave him a fully guaranteed $230 million contract. This came as Watson was accused of sexual misconduct by over two dozen women, and was eventually suspended for 11 games during the 2022 season for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.

Cleveland has seen other similar cases but none are more recent that what's going on with rookie defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. from Ohio State.

Browns rookie DT accused of horrible crimes against mother of his child

Hall, Cleveland's second round pick in the 2024 draft, is being accused of pointing a gun at a woman's head and dragging her down a hallway Monday night in Avon, Ohio. According to the report, police found signs that there was a physical altercation in the house and saw two handguns on a mattress.

While these are just allegations at this point, there were some obvious warning signs that Hall may not have had the best character. The judicial system will work to find out whether Hall is guilty of what is being accused or not. That's not our place to speculate.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has brought up the point that many around the league refused to draft Hall because of rumored character issues.

"Pre-draft research, per a source with knowledge of such research, gave multiple teams pause about picking Hall. Per the source, Hall was off multiple draft boards," Florio wrote. "It’s unclear whether the Browns had concerns about Hall, based on their own research, and opted to take a chance or whether they didn’t come across anything that would have made Monday night’s incident not a huge surprise — if he’s indeed guilty as accused."

Somehow the Browns landed the talented, yet personally flawed, defender in the second round while other teams had wiped him off their board completely.

This should come as a surprise to nobody though, as this is the same team that gave Watson a fully guaranteed contract despite lingering legal issues. Not a good look for the Browns.