Since it seems like the entire northeast Ohio region is football obsessed, at least the broadcast and print media that is, there are various stages of the year for the pigskin folks.
Of course, from late July to January, everyone is focused on the play on the field, unless of course, the team starts out 0-5 and then we have continuous draft talk until April. But in a year where the Browns remain in playoff contention for most of the season, the weeks following the end of the regular season is spent talking about who should be assigned blame for not winning the Super Bowl.
Since Kevin Stefanski did not get fired and Joe Woods did, that part of the year has passed, so people have moved on to the needlessly worrying about next season phase.
Or Myles Garrett’s dislocated toe.
There is a whole lot of time between now and when training camp opens in late July, and we doubt that Andrew Berry and the rest of the front office are hibernating in some cave, ready to arise shortly before the draft.
One of our favorite lazy sportstalk topics usually happens in the week before the conference title games, when the question is asked: How can the Browns compete with the two teams in the game?
The answer is quite simple. Right now, they can’t. But that’s what the off-season is for.
We are pretty confident Berry, Paul DePodesta, and Stefanski know their team has a bunch of holes to fill, and they will do their best to accomplish that.
Here is where the worrying comes in. They have no draft picks, though. The Browns should trade Nick Chubb or Denzel Ward, or even Myles Garrett to get draft picks to improve the roster.
Remember, the Browns stripped down the roster to get a bunch of draft picks and in the process went 1-15 and 0-16. With all of those picks, they have one playoff appearance, and the last two seasons of unfulfilled playoff hopes.
The reality is there are several ways to upgrade the roster. The first will come when the new league year starts and there will be free agents to be signed. And yes, we know Cleveland is currently over the salary cap, which means they are likely working behind the scenes with several highly paid veterans to restructure their current deals to free up some money.
They also can release players too.
The worry has even been linked to Deshaun Watson. What if he never regains the ability he had with Houston?
Watson is 27 years old and he didn’t miss almost two full seasons due to injury. Did he struggle when he returned for the last six games of the regular season? Of course. Still, this is a guy who was one of the top five or six quarterbacks in the game when he played his last full season in 2020.
Yes, the Texans finished 4-12, but their offense put up 30 or more points in five games. Houston was 2-3 in those games. Watson threw 7 interceptions that season. He threw five in the six games with Cleveland, and we will remind you two of those contests were played in terrible conditions.
While it’s a possibility Watson will never be an elite QB again, we are comfortable the Browns will have very good a top guy at the position, and for all the X’s and O’s Stefanski and Watson discussed at the “recruiting” meeting, having the opportunity to see him first hand and work with him, we are sure the head coach has a better idea of how to get the best out of him.
Perhaps people and talk show hosts should relax and think about other things to discuss before they drive themselves crazy?
Cleveland Sports Perspective 