The Browns have released wide receiver Sammie Coates, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Coates has personally confirmed the news with a thank you to the Browns organization on Twitter. 
Coates arrived in Cleveland last September via a trade with the rival Steelers. That deal saw the Browns send a 2018 sixth-round selection to Pittsburgh with a 2019 seventh-round pick going back to the Browns.
Coates, a former third-round pick himself, didn’t do a whole lot for the Browns. He had six catches for 70 yards with no touchdowns, a step back from his 21 catches for 435 yards and two scores in the previous season.
Many had expected Coates to be a bigger part of the offense with the Browns. He was buried, to some degree, by the Steelers’ other talented receivers. In Cleveland, he had a chance to be third on the depth chart behind offseason addition Kenny Britt and Corey Coleman. Britt disappointed and Coleman was limited due to injury, but Coates was still not a major factor for them.
Any relation to TE Big Ben Coates?
It seemed as though no matter who Hue Jackson gets on his team, he is quick to complain about them and doesn’t give them much of a shot. Unless Jackson picks him out himself. Britt was a total disaster, I’m not defending him, but guys like Coates, Payton, Coleman, Higgins, you would imagine one of these guys would be doing better than they are or did while with Cleveland.