The Cleveland Browns have released defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey after a video accusing him of threatening a woman made the rounds on social media on Wednesday.
CLEVELAND — As the Cleveland Browns prepare to open their 2023 training camp, they’ll be doing so with one less player. On Wednesday, the Browns announced that they have released second-year defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey.
Winfrey’s release comes as a video accusing him of threatening a woman made the rounds on social media on Wednesday. In the Instagram story, the woman writes that Winfrey chased her and a friend out of The 9 hotel, pointed a gun and stole both of their phones. The video also includes a man’s voice threatening to strike the woman. While he is not shown in the video, the man is addressed as “Perrion.”
In April, Winfrey was charged with assault against a family member in Harris County, Texas. The alleged victim, who Winfrey had been dating, was granted protection order, and the charge was dropped in June after he completed a pretrial diversion program.
Asked about Winfrey’s arrest in April, Browns general manager Andrew Berry said: “It’s a pending legal matter, so I won’t comment on the specifics of that, other than to say that Perrion understands what our expectations are for all players, whether they’re on the field or in the building.”
Selected out of Oklahoma in the fourth round (No. 108 overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft, Winfrey appeared in 13 games during his rookie season, tallying 22 tackles, one of which came for a loss and a half-sack. The Maywood, Illinois, native was held out of practice due to disciplinary reasons ahead of the Browns’ Week 2 loss to the New York Jets, which he was made inactive for.
Despite his up-and-down rookie season, Winfrey flashed plenty of promise and was thought to be a potential key contributor in Cleveland’s defensive line rotation in 2023.