Karlos Dansby has seen his share of bad teams and down seasons in 12 years since being drafted in 2004 by the Arizona Cardinals. There were the back-to-back five-win seasons with Dennis Green early in his career in the desert or the six-win season in Miami under Tony Sparano.
Yet, according to the 34-year-old linebacker, 2015 takes the cake.
On Tuesday night, Dansby told SiriusXM NFL Radio his second season with the Cleveland Browns was "the worst season I've ever had to experience as a team" since entering the NFL.
Dansby doesn't believe it was a lack of talent that led to the 3-13 year.
"There was just too much going on and guys having their own agendas," Dansby said, via Fox Sports. "(There was) plenty of talent across the board -- a lot of talent. Young talent, too. But we just couldn't put it together as a team.
"If you can't and guys don't believe in the system and the program, then you'll never be successful as a team because this is an ultimate team game. It takes everybody on the field working as one -- one common goal -- and we just couldn't put it all together to have everybody on the field on the same page."
We'd argue with using the modifier "a lot" to describe the Browns' 2015 talent, but that seems petty and semantic at this point. The swath of players that departed in free agency does indicate Cleveland wasn't completely devoid of talent.
Dansby said he understood why the team was jettisoning veteran players, like himself or Donte Whitner -- although he took issue with the veteran safety being cut so late in free agency, saying it "wasn't cool."
"I said, 'Let's keep it real. We're 3-13. There's going to be a new coach, a new scheme ... All the vets gotta go. It's just how the game goes, man. We've both been on that side of the stick before,'" said Dansby, who quickly signed with the rival Bengals.
