Colt McCoy said he wanted to stay in Cleveland, despite a volatile offseason in which he lost his starting job to rookie Brandon Weeden and endured a summer's worth of trade whispers and lukewarm praise.
McCoy will get his wish.
A source told NFL Network that veteran Seneca Wallace was released by the Browns on Friday, leaving McCoy as Weeden's primary backup heading into the regular season. The team officially announced the roster move later Friday.
Wallace outplayed McCoy in Thursday night's preseason finale against the Chicago Bears, but that wasn't the case in the Browns' first three preseason games. McCoy performed well in what most considered a monthlong on-field advertisement for a pending trade. Never say never, but McCoy is going nowhere for now.
McCoy is six years younger than Wallace and less expensive. Those factors clearly outweighed any potential controversy that might arise from McCoy sitting behind Weeden, who has struggled in the preseason and now prepares to face the Philadelphia Eagles in the Sept. 9 season opener.
This might be the place to note that no Browns quarterback has played all 16 games in a single season since Tim Couch accomplished the feat in 2001. We wouldn't be surprised to see both Weeden and his understudy see the field in 2012.
The Browns also cut tight end Evan Moore, Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland reported and the team later confirmed. Moore's four touchdown catches tied Josh Cribbs for the team lead last season, but the three-year veteran struggled through training camp and spent most of the preseason buried on the depth chart. Moore was slowed coming into the summer with a muscle pull and now finds himself looking for work.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.
