Was a huge fan of Taylor heading into the draft in 2011. At that time, we didn't have Bennett and were heavily in the market for a quality DT. He was snatched away 4 picks ahead of us.
Taylor was drafted along with Jabaal Sheard a couple of coaching changes ago. At the time, Cleveland was running a 4-3 defense. They changed defense scheme to a 3-4 in 2013 and both Sheard and Taylor were ill suited for the move. Even last year, I was advocating trading for either player before the 2014 draft since they could be had for cheap and were expendable due to scheme change, not lack of quality.
Rubin, who we just signed, was used more as a zero tech. Taylor however is more pure 3 tech with exceptional size and power. He was horribly miscast as a 3-4 DE in the Browns scheme, who also filled in at the 0/1 tech. Obviously, I can't speak to his injury. I'm guessing he remains unsigned this year since it seems unlikely he'll play a down. But should he recover, he'd be an excellent player to add for the right price.
He's been a very good player. Rubin fared better in the 3-4 than Taylor. But Taylor seemed to be much more suited for our 4-3 hybrid style. Very athletic for a big body -- somewhere in between Rubin and Tony McDaniel. Who basically saw his natural position evaporate. He'd be worth Rubin's contract if he is healthy. May be had for less now with injury concerns. Classic high risk/reward move that may be leveraged with a low risk offer.