Amazing fact of the day: Of the 37 players the Browns picked in their 1999 expansion draft, none remains on the team. And only one of them is still in the NFL. That’s Bengals’ backup guard Scott Rehberg, whom the Browns will face on Sunday.
The best of those players, in my view, were Tarek Saleh, who contributed on special teams, and cornerback Ray Jackson. Jackson’s shining moment was his 52-yard interception return in last year’s 18-0 shutout of the Bengals.
The five players each team exposed to the draft were generally overpaid vets (Reggie White, Cris Dishman, Daryl Johnston, Neil Smith, Terry Allen) or unheralded journeymen. Among those who could have been Browns: QB Jay Fiedler (38 starts since 1999), WR Qadry Ismail (21 TDs since 1999, more than KJ’s 18), and the big enchilada: two-time MVP Kurt Warner.
Ah, hindsight…