Veteran linebacker Karlos Dansby predicted last month that the Browns would cut him, and he told teammate Donte Whitner "to be ready for anything" because he could be next.

On Saturday, Dansby was again proven right: The Browns released Whitner, who took to Twitter to say his goodbyes.

"Moneyball" refers to the Browns' new front office, one that includes Paul DePodesta, the former New York Mets executive and Los Angeles Dodgers general manager who also worked for A's general manager Billy Beane, the man behind the "Moneyball" phenomenon.

DePodesta was hired in January as the Browns' new chief strategy officer. In February, he was at the Indianapolis airport for the NFL combine when he found out how executives from other teams felt about the decision to hire a baseball guy.

"I was standing right in front of them in line and I could hear them in back of me and they were talking trash about me and the Cleveland Browns," DePodesta said at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. "I said, 'All right, this is like 17 years ago in Oakland all over again.' That's part of the fun."

Donte Whitner is the latest veteran to get cut by the Browns. (USATSI)
Donte Whitner is the latest veteran to get cut by the Browns. (USATSI)

It's hard to fault the Browns for trying, well, anything. The team has been a laughingstock since returning to Cleveland in 1999, and conventional measures to fix the mess have all failed. You don't need a football background to understand this.

"As an organization... we have big challenges in front of us," DePodesta told Baseball America recently. "We have a super competitive league, we haven't been very successful on the field and we have a big mountain to climb, but I think we have the right team of people in place to do it."

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is responsible for much of current failures though, to his credit, he seems to understand that.

“Until we start winning, people are going to make fun of you,” Haslam said during last month's owners meetings. “So it's our job to get the right people in place to hopefully turn this thing around like we all want to see, and we're cautiously optimistic we've done that.”

Meanwhile, Whitner, who spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons with the Browns, wishes the organization the best.

"Thanks to the Cleveland browns organization for believing in me," Whitner tweeted. "I gave everything! Literally! I wish you guys much success. I'll b back!"

If there's one complaint, however, it's the timing.