Dansby rips Browns for Whitner's late release: 'Wasn't cool at all'

The Cleveland Browns released safety Donte Whitner on Saturday, a month after NFL free agency began, and his former teammate is not happy about it.

"To see it happen like that late into the free agency, man, it just wasn't cool,'' former Browns linebacker Karlos Dansby told SiriusXM Radio via Cleveland.com. "It wasn't cool at all. As a professional, man, that man earned the right to do his job ... just respect him and let him go."

Dansby was also released by the Browns after free agency opened and has since signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Whitner, a native of Cleveland, signed with the Browns after the 2013 season and will now face an uphill battle as he tries to find a team that can both pay him and play him. Dansby had thought that the Browns were going to return the veteran defender.

"I thought they were going to keep him on because he's a Cleveland kid, homegrown, and I'm thinking if they let me go, they're going to keep Donte on,'' Dansby said. "That was my thinking, because both of us were strong leaders on the defense."