I’m all in favor of the new regime’s emphasis on good character as they remake the Browns’ image and roster. The margin of success in the parity-conscious and salary-cap driven NFL is perilously narrow, so an organization needs every possible intangible to work in its favor. Focusing on character — which is actually a cluster of traits — serves many purposes: enhanced teamwork, quicker learning, reduced distractions, less chance of suspensions, and enhanced fan support. And it’s just good karma.

That’s one reason I support the effort to trade William Green. If it were just about smoking pot, believe me, I’m more tolerant than most. But Green’s issues go well beyond that. While I don’t want to chronicle them all, I was disappointed that he got baited into getting ejected before the Pittsburgh game last year. And for whatever reasons, his effort and output in the latter half of the season were not what you’d expect from a starting-caliber player, much less a first-round draft choice. He just didn’t live up to the hopes I held out for him last spring.

So if we can salvage some value in exchange for Green — a low-round pick, or a package deal on draft day — I think Phil Savage will make the most of it. But even before the trade for Reuben Droughns, and especially after, I’ve read plenty about how Green will probably just be released. The more I think about it, the more I realize just how wrong that would be.

For one thing, Green is under contract for at least two and possibly four more years at extremely affordable terms, since he failed to earn his incentives. To cut him would be a favor he doesn’t deserve. He would be free to pick whatever suitor might please him most. Not that I’d expect dozens of GMs to be banging at his door, but I think he’d fetch more than the $455K he’s scheduled to earn this season.

So he’s one strike away from a year’s suspension under the league’s drug policy? Well, cutting him would be roughly as bad for the Browns as if he were to get that strike. It’s defeatist logic to surrender to something that’s not inevitable. Would you break your own leg with a hammer to avoid the risk of your upcoming ski trip?

He’d be a locker room cancer? Hardly. Maybe, even probably, there’s much more below the surface. But from all I’ve seen and heard, he’s no brash malcontent, just a quiet kid from a troubled background who’s made plenty of mistakes in his personal life and needs solid mentoring.

Green, frankly, has talent. Unpolished, perhaps. Undisciplined, sure. But it’s not just PHD who pegged him as the best back available in the ’02 draft. He has a very quick initial burst and a valuable combination of size and speed. If he stays with the Browns — and he’s been participating in off-season conditioning — he would be part of the deepest corps of running backs in the league.

The best plan, if Green cannot be traded, would be to coach him up to compete. Let Romeo Crennel, Maurice Carthon and especially the very experienced running backs coach, Dave Atkins, give him a firm and guiding hand. The message should be this: we’re new, so your baggage ain’t on our plane, not now, not ever. We’re building a complete team, and you ought to be a part of it. You may start, you may spell the starters, or you might just get cut in training camp. Things change fast around here. No guarantees, except that you will improve if you prove yourself teachable, and we’ll judge you by what we see, not by what we’ve heard. We’re building a team of winners here, and so let’s see you act the part.

If he flames out in training camp and can’t accept whatever role he deserves, that’s no worse than cutting him in the spring. At least the new coaches will have their chance and know who they’re dealing when they dump him. And the potential upside is huge. Bench strength at RB is a huge advantage in a long season — fresh legs, injury contingency, internal competition. I’d actually like to see Green get a chance to return kickoffs, as it seems like a good fit with his strengths as a runner.

I’d take a sixth-rounder for him, but cutting him before camp? At some point, addition by subtraction just doesn’t add up.