Written by Thomas Moore

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The Cleveland Browns made 22 roster moves late Friday night to get the squad down to the 53-man roster.

The biggest names among the players who will no longer be wearing Orange and Brown were quarterback Seneca Wallace and tight end Evan Moore.

So despite all the calls throughout the off season and training camp that the Browns must do “something” about quarterback Colt McCoy, in the end they did the best thing for the team: they kept him as the backup quarterback.

In addition to Wallace and Moore, the team put linebacker Scott Fujita on the reserve/suspended list by commissioner list. Fujita is suspended for the first three games of the season because of his involvement in the New Orleans Saints’ bounty program; Fujita is fighting the suspension.

The Browns waived fullback Brad Smelley, defensive linemen Brian Schaefering, Kiante Tripp, William Green, Ernest Owusu and Ronnie Cameron; linebackers Benjamin Jacobs and Quinton Spears; wide receivers Rod Windsor and Josh Cooper; cornerback James Dockery; tight end Dan Gronkowski; running back Adonis Thomas; and offensive linemen Jarrod Shaw, Dominic Alford, Stanley Daniels and Garth Gerhart.

Cooper is among a group of players that it would seem the Browns would like to sign to the practice squad; the list could also include Smelley and Thomas.

Finally, the team traded strong safety David Sims to Philadelphia for a conditional pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.

As for the two big names, Moore would show just enough to tease fans, but can’t stay healthy and can’t block. In 33 games with the Browns, he caught 62 passes for 804 yards and five touchdowns.

The biggest surprise to many fans may be the release of Wallace, who has ties to team president Mike Holmgren going back to their time together in Seattle. Many fans believed Holmgren would protect Wallace – why we are not sure – over trying to make the team better.

In two years with the Browns, Wallace was 1-6 as a starter (he is 6-15 in his career), completing 57 percent of his passes for 1,261 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions.  Combined those numbers with his age, 32, and it really shouldn’t have been that hard of a decision. Even Wallace sounds like he knew his time was up.

“It started probably back in OTAs and minicamp, what direction they probably wanted to go in,” Wallace told The Beacon Journal. “A lot of times it’s not about your performance. Sometimes it’s about the numbers, what you’re getting paid, or whatever the case may be. I don’t know if I fell victim to that, but it is what it is, and it’s time to move on. I can’t get down about it. As long as I know every time I stepped on the field and tried to make plays and put us in the best situation to win games, that’s the only thing you can do.”

The roster will probably continue to evolve over the next few days as the Browns pick over the players released by the other teams in the league.

(Photo by Getty Images)