Contract terminations typically aren’t huge news these days. Hundreds of guys playing otherwise meaningless preseason games right now will be bagging groceries and supersizing your McDonald’s order starting in the next couple weeks.

Cleveland’s decision to release Gary Baxter is worthy of slightly more than a sidenote, however. The injury-prone defensive back signed with the Browns in 2005, playing five games that season before injuring a pectoral muscle. He played three games in 2006, then tore both patellar tendons in a game against Denver.

Baxter has popped up from time to time in newspapers and network stories as he worked diligently to try and revive his career. He had surgery earlier this week to remove loose cartilage and the Browns decided they had seen enough.

It’s hard to blame the Browns. They haven’t gotten a ton of return on their investment since 2005. It’d be a great story if Baxter were somehow able to make it back from his injury woes. While it now looks like he’s got an uphill climb ahead, he deserves some credit for his efforts whether he makes it or not.