Today, the Cleveland Browns close out another losing season against the Cincinnati Bengals, but the game will be anti-climactic compared to the 48 hours after the game.
Will the Browns move on from coach Kevin Stefanski or GM Andrew Berry or both? That’s the bigger story.
We have already offered the opinion both should go. It’s been six years and an accumulative record of 44-56 coming into the season finale. There have been two playoff appearances and one post-season win.
There has also been a 7-26 mark over the last two seasons.
If you compare this duo to everyone else who has run the franchise since 1999, they have a pretty good resume. Unfortunately, that isn’t how they should be graded. It’s the rest of the league the Browns have to compete with, not their mediocre past.
And yes, both have had success. Again, two playoff appearances. Two NFL Coach of the Year awards for Stefanski. We aren’t debating that he’s a solid football coach, and the players have respect for him. They continue to play hard. Probably because he has their back. He doesn’t call out players in the media, and they appreciate that.
But where is the coach who came out against Dallas in his first year and had Jarvis Landry passing to Odell Beckham? It seems that he has overcorrected last season’s turnover issue by basically eliminating any high-risk plays. Yes, we know he has rookies playing quarterback, more on that later.
As a result, the Browns have scored the second fewest points in the NFL over the past two seasons, ahead of only the Las Vegas Raiders. Scoring 20 points in game is a chore for this group. And as we point out after most games, looking around the league, it’s not that difficult.
We aren’t doubting Stefanski can go somewhere else, do a self-audit, and change some of the things that have put him in this situation.
As for Berry, yes, the 2025 draft class was excellent. Carson Schwesinger should be the Defensive Rookie of the Year. Harold Fannin looks like a very good player. Mason Graham is a foundation piece, and Quinshon Judkins appears to be a bell cow back.
And maybe, just maybe, Shedeur Sanders can be an NFL starting quarterback.
But one solid draft in six seasons doesn’t cut it. The Browns have a horrible offensive line situation and a bad wide receiver room.
That’s mainly because Berry has done a bad job identifying talent at those positions. He seemed obsessed with Jerry Jeudy for several years and eventually traded for him. That’s a whiff.
And despite a good draft, he mangled the QB position in the past 12 months. Drafting two rookies didn’t make sense. He traded for Kenny Pickett, a former first round pick, but he was injured in camp and traded away.
He signed Joe Flacco as a free agent and the Browns started him in the first four games, and when he was benched in favor of Dillon Gabriel, Berry traded him to a division rival (the division was still up for grabs, mind you) without the head coach seeming to know about it.
So, there was no experienced QB available to guide the rookies.
And don’t forget, the Browns had Tyler Huntley on the roster each of the last two seasons and let him go. Huntley won a big game for the Ravens last week.
Also, don’t forget that Berry is the GM of record on the whole Deshaun Watson debacle.
The Haslam family has proven they can have some stability in the front office after going through head coaches and GMs like people change underwear. That’s good. Now go out, hire a football man first and foremost, and let that man hire a new coach.
Or vice versa.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 