PENALTY PRONE: What Should The Saints Do About Brandon Browner?

When the New Orleans Saints signed free agent cornerback Brandon Browner in the offseason, I’ll admit I was championing his arrival to what was considered at the time to be a leaky secondary.

The 6’4, 221 pound defensive back was brought in to add a new physicality to the Saints defense that seemed to evaporate in 2014; along with his strong leadership abilities on the field as well as the locker room.

The only “red flag” so to speak with Browner was his panache for garnering so many defensive penalties against receivers, but the Saints decided that it could be overlooked due to his potential to disrupt opposing offenses alongside fellow cornerback Keenan Lewis.

With the early season injury to Lewis, rookie Delvin Breaux was asked to step up in a big way after he was originally set to play time as a third corner on the field until he could get his feet wet.

Oct 15, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Delvin Breaux (40) breaks up a pass intended for Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) in the second quarter of their game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Breaux has been asked to guard some of the NFL’s most productive wide receivers and for the most part has done a serviceable job although the learning curve has been severely steep in several games.

The strange thing is that Breaux actually is gathering more favorable reviews for his performance than is Browner who was supposed to be one of the main catalysts to ignite the team.

Currently Browner is the third leading tackler on defense with 40 combined tackles, 34 of those solo, and one interception in eight games so far.

That blows away the previous two seasons where with the Seattle Seahawks in 2013 during eight games he had 19 total tackles and an interception and with the New England Patriots in 2014 he had 25 total tackles in nine games along with an interception.

Well hey with the numbers he’s putting up for the Saints that means he’s doing a great job right?

Not really…

I don’t profess to be a football guru but with those high numbers already that simply means opposing quarterbacks don’t fear throwing his way as first was imagined.

In all honesty, a cornerback that is having to make that many tackles isn’t scaring other team’s QB’s or either getting beat for a play, which in Browner’s case is likely a little of both.

Sep 27, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen (88) catches the ball as New Orleans Saints cornerback Brandon Browner (39) defends in the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Currently ProFootballFocus.com has him rated as dead last out of 113 other cornerbacks in the NFL, while Breaux is listed as #13 if that puts things into perspective.

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But beside Browner’s suspect coverage abilities that suddenly seem to have bit him, the other problem with Browner is the aforementioned penalties he has garnered.

With PFF’s penalty tracker(cumulative # of penalties-# of penalties declined/offsetting) Browner is ranked number one with 14-1, with four of those penalties coming from yesterday’s game.

The only other game where he came close to that many was against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2.

In fairness Breaux is not far behind at #3 with 9-2, but once again with him being a rookie and transitioning from the more aggressive play allowed by cornerbacks in the Canadian Football League, it’s a bit easier to forgive.

If you’ve racked your brain trying to figure out what to do with Browner or solve his issues with penalties, you’re not the only one.

I’ve seen forums, articles, and listened to podcasts that have proposed many ideas on many levels:

“Move him to safety”

“Can he play linebacker?”

“Bench him”

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And the list goes on and on on how to put him in the best position to not only succeed in the defense, but to limit the number of penalties he gets that is helping opponents sustain drives.

The idea of moving him to safety was my original thought but of course that would mean strong safety Kenny Vaccaro would come off the field as well as someone filling Browner’s spot.

Oct 15, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Brandon Browner (39) against the Atlanta Falcons during the first half of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

If Keenan Lewis were healthy that may not be too farfetched, but with his health combined with Vaccaro’s return to his playmaking ability, it’s just not likely going to happen.

So how do the Saints deal with the issue?

Well it’s real simple, they’re just going to have to do that and deal with it after accepting the prodigal son of penalties into their fold.

Hey, it really stinks but it reminds me of a story first recorded as the “Farmer and The Viper” where a farmer finds a half-frozen viper in a tree.

The farmer takes pity on the viper and cares for him by getting him warm again and the snake regains consciousness, suddenly biting the farmer who showed him kindness.

In several modern versions the dying farmer asks the snake why he did this after showing him pity to which it replies, “Didn’t you know I was a viper when you picked me up?”

So it seems the Saints will have to live with the bite of Browner’s penalties for some time to come as well….