BEREA -- Dwayne Bowe did not have a touchdown reception in 2014.
Could he finish 2015 without a single catch?
Ten games remain in the season, but Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine said Wednesday that the team’s top four receivers are "entrenched" -- and Bowe is not among the four. That group of for is comprised of Travis Benjamin, Andrew Hawkins, Brian Hartline and Taylor Gabriel. Marlon Moore pushes Bowe further down the list, because he’s a core special teams contributor -- and special teams is not Bowe’s thing at this point of his career.
That means Bowe is behind five receivers when it comes to being active on Sundays. He has been a healthy scratch the past two games, and has been on the field for only two games and a total of 11 snaps. He’s had two passes thrown to him, both of which were incomplete.
For this the Browns jumped to sign Bowe as a free agent in the offseason. General Manager Ray Farmer had a previous relationship with Bowe in Kansas City, and he took less than a week to bring him to Cleveland.
Farmer gave Bowe a contract that includes $9 million in guaranteed money, even though Bowe’s numbers had dropped the past three seasons.
Bowe then made some bold predictions after he signed that in hindsight seem outrageous given his lack of production.
Pettine plays the best players.
That’s to his credit.
But its not like the Browns are keeping Bowe on the bench because they have Paul Warfield on the field.
Benjamin leads the Browns with 31 receptions; that ranks tied for 23rd in the league. Benjamin does rank eighth in receiving yards, but the next highest Browns receiver is Hawkins with 186 yards.
The Browns also could use a receiver with Bowe’s size, especially in the red zone. He continues to sit.
This free agent deal has to rank among the league’s worst for 2015.