Former Browns starter keeps it real with why he fled Cleveland in free agency

Cleveland Browns linebacker unit will look a bit different in 2024 after some shuffling was done in free agency.

The team lost Anthony Walker Jr. to the Miami Dolphins and Sione Takitaki to the New England Patriots. Cleveland signed Jordan Hicks and Devin Bush as replacements in free agency.

Walker had been with the Browns for a few seasons and was a starter when healthy. He has now revealed why he decided to jump ship and head south as a free agent.

“I stressed to my agent it was very, very important to get me out of the cold. I was sick of it,” Walker recently said. “I hadn’t been home in a while. I was in the Midwest since I was 17 years old. It was about time I got some warm weather and when he said Miami and I was like let’s get it done.”

Walker is originally from Florida but hasn’t been back there to live since high school. He played his college ball at Northwestern before being drafted by the Indianapolis Colts. After four seasons there, he went the the Browns and stayed in the cold.

While in Cleveland, Walker started 27 out of 28 games he played in over three seasons and was a great locker-room presence. The veteran linebacker’s best season was in 2021 when he had 113 tackles and a sack in 13 games played.

Now with the Dolphins who also underwent some linebacker changes, Walker will have the chance for a clean start and should make an impact as long as he is healthy. We now know the Browns never even had a chance to keep him, which could have been mutual anyway.