ON THE SIDELINES : Browns Release Lonnie Finch

Cleveland Browns today released cornerback Lonnie Finch, who was signed Wednesday, and replaced him on their developmental squad with cornerback Gary Wilkerson.

Wilkerson was the Browns’ sixth-round draft pick from Penn State and was waived by the Browns on Aug. 22. He was picked up by the Dallas Cowboys but was released from their developmental squad Tuesday.

Finch, a 6-foot-1, 188-pounder from Oklahoma, was signed as a free agent by the San Francisco 49ers and spent time on their developmental squad before being released.

The 49ers reportedly wanted to resign Finch in about a week after shuffling their roster, but Finch chose to go with the Browns because of the recent earthquake.

“I had a third-floor apartment in a brick building in Santa Clara,” Finch said. “That day my apartment was swaying back and forth, and I couldn’t do anything till it stopped.”

The Dallas native said his first tornado was not nearly as scary.

“I’ll take a tornado any day,” Finch said. “At least you can run from them.”