Garrett Wills The Browns To A Road Win

If you read this web site on a regular basis or follow us on social media, you know we are very critical of the NFL officiating. We believe it is the worst in all of professional sports.

Someone on X (Twitter) made a comment that they saw Browns’ running back Duke Johnson holding the football at the bottom of a pile and an official award the ball to the opponent.

So yes, the Cleveland Browns were probably the beneficiaries of some poor calls by the officials. But they happen all around the league every week, so there is no need to feel remorse about a win on Sunday if you are a fan.

As Bill Parcells famously said, you are what your record says you are, and the Browns are 4-2 after a 39-38 win over Indianapolis on Sunday.

Even though they gave up 38 points, the story of the game was still the Cleveland defense. Over the first five games, opponents couldn’t move the football with much success, but Sunday, the Colts did move the ball, getting a handful of big plays to help them amass 456 yards.

They flipped the script because they created turnovers, four of them in fact, scored a defensive touchdown, blocked a field goal, and had the best player on the field in Myles Garrett.

Garrett’s first half was unbelievable, Lawrence Taylor-like if you will. Immediately after the pair calling the game said they hadn’t called Garrett’s name; he recorded a strip sack which led to the Browns’ second touchdown, tying the game at 14.

Next, he leaped over the offensive line to block a field goal, which Denzel Ward picked up and moved into Colts’ territory, setting up a Cleveland field goal.

Then right before halftime, he did it again, this time in the end zone and Tony Fields recovered the ball for a defensive touchdown, putting Cleveland up 24-21.

So, while the defense had its worst game of the season in terms of giving up points and yardage, it scored a touchdown directly, and set up at least 10 more points. We say at least because after the Fields score, the defense forced a three and out, setting up another Dustin Hopkins’ field goal.

Can speaking of Hopkins, how big was the trade for him before the season started? Andrew Berry knew he couldn’t go into the season with Cade York’s lack of consistency, so he acquired the veteran from San Diego.

His statistics showed he was good inside the 50 (almost 90% for his career), but so-so beyond that distance at 15 for 30.

However, he’s become a tremendous weapon for Kevin Stefanski, making 16 of 18 field goals, including 7 for 7 from 50 yards or more. He made four kicks Sunday, three from past midfield, including a career long 58 yarder.

The Browns have won two straight games without much of a passing attack, and everyone know that cannot continue. Hopefully, Deshaun Watson continues to get better and can play going forward, but he may have to change his style.

If he can’t put as much zip on the ball because of his shoulder, then he needs to make an adjustment. Plenty of quarterbacks have been successful later in their career despite losing MPH on their throws. Peyton Manning and Joe Montana come to mind.

But the offense needs to be better in the passing game for sure. We were happy to see David Njoku used more because we continue to believe he is only behind Amari Cooper in being a big play threat.

As Stefanski said last week, the Browns need to continue to stack wins, and they have another opportunity to do just that in Seattle next Sunday. It won’t be easy because the Seahawks are 4-2 and they have one of the game’s best coaches in Pete Carroll.

On the other hand, their last three wins are against Carolina, the Giants, and Cardinals.

We will bet the Cleveland defense will be much better next week.

Browns Defense Is Best We’ve Seen

If Sunday’s win over San Francisco doesn’t convince people that the Cleveland Browns have a good team, we don’t know what will.

We’ve heard people saying Niners’ QB Brock Purdy isn’t a very good QB, but they weren’t saying that the previous game when they walloped Dallas 42-10. Such is the life of a Browns’ fan, even when they are good, they can’t just admit it.

The critics of Kevin Stefanski also are forced to put a sock in it right now. The “too cerebral”, “non-emotional” coach had his football team ready to play a superior opponent without their starting quarterback and All Pro running back, and All Pro guard.

He had a good game plan, stuck to it, and defeating a 5-0 football team, the first time Cleveland defeated an undefeated team with five or more wins since 1969!

We say that knowing the next time the Browns lose a game, it will be entirely the fault of Stefanski. Such is being a football fan in Cleveland.

And we are sure we will hear some people saying perhaps Cleveland doesn’t need Deshaun Watson after all, because they defeated a quality opponent without him.

However, let’s talk about the defense. We are ready to say this is the best defensive unit the Browns have had since we started following the brown and orange in 1965.

Jim Schwartz’ unit has allowed just 1002 yards in their five games, the first time any unit has allowed so few in 50 years. And because of that, the Browns are 3-2 today despite not winning the turnover battle in any of the five games they’ve played to date.

Last season, we wondered (we weren’t alone) why the Browns played so much zone pass defense when they drafted several cornerbacks who exceled in man-to-man coverage during their college careers. This season, we are seeing that was a huge mistake.

To us, that’s the problem with coaches who have a “system”. That “system” is all they know how to teach and coach. Which pretty much is the opposite of what we feel coaching should be, which is looking at the talent at hand and getting the most out of it.

Yes, GM Andrew Berry added a lot of talent on the defensive line, but perhaps that was at Schwartz’ request. We often said in the past it seemed like the plan was if Myles Garrett can’t get to the quarterback, they needed to rely on the zone coverage.

Schwartz didn’t want to depend on just Garrett. He wanted a bunch of players with the ability to get to the passer. Last season, Taven Bryan was second on the team with three sacks. In 2023, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo already has 2.5 and LB Sione Takitaki has two.

Keep in mind that Za’Darius Smith doesn’t have one yet, and Shelby Harris has just a half sack. You know they will get on the board soon.

Opponents are converting just 23.1% of third downs against the Browns’ defense, which is amazing. The next best rate? Atlanta is holding their opponents to just 31.1%.

Also, opponents have ventured into the Cleveland red zone just nine times, also the lowest in the NFL.

Stefanski told his team in the locker room after the game that the Browns need to start stacking wins and he is 100% correct. They have to follow up a great win over San Francisco by going to Indianapolis and beating a rebuilding Colts’ team.

And stop turning the ball over.

The Browns’ World Isn’t Ending Folks

We understand that 24 seasons of pretty much horrible football has made Cleveland Browns’ fans very sensitive. Three winning seasons since 1999 will do that to you.

However, logic seems to have gone out the window concerning this version of the Browns. Not to ignore the entire history of the expansion Browns, but the last three seasons have resulted in a 28-26 record under the Andrew Berry/Kevin Stefanski regime.

While not great, it’s a far cry from the 4-44 record from 2015-17 or the 27-69 mark from 2008-2013. Cleveland football fans have seen plenty of not just bad football, but historically bad football.

They should know better that that’s not the 2023 Cleveland Browns.

First of all, this team has a great defense, and by the end of the year, we might be able to say it is the best defense the Browns have had since we can remember, which dates back to 1965.

They have an excellent pass rush, led by Myles Garrett, who is the best pass rusher the franchise has ever had. And he has a lot of help in Za’Darius Smith, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Shelby Harris, and Dalvin Tomlinson.

They are good and deep. Jim Schwartz’ unit also has an outstanding secondary. Last year, Martin Emerson and Denzel Ward led the team in passes defended with 15 for the entire season. And only Grant Delpit also was in double figures with 10.

This season, Ward already has 5, Emerson 3, and three other players have 2. We understand the Baltimore game was a disappointment but check again. It was really one bad quarter.

Good defense keeps you in every game and gives you a chance to win. And barring injuries, the Cleveland Browns are very good on that side of the football.

Fans are convinced there is something seriously wrong with Deshaun Watson, and maybe there is, but we doubt it. He won’t play tomorrow, but should be back in a week or two, and let’s not forget he is coming off his best game as a Brown.

If he’s out for a longer period, the team is pretty much screwed offensively. But that’s nothing new, we have been saying that since the end of last season. He is the key to making a playoff run.

Look, the Browns handled the situation poorly. Before the Ravens’ game, we are sure they were betting on Watson’s durability and history of pain tolerance. Once he didn’t play that game, they should have been more transparent. Not doing so, opens the organization up for questions about being secretive.

And if he’s back, look at the rest of the schedule. Now, we don’t like to play the “schedule game”, but it would seem to us that after tomorrow’s game, the schedule isn’t overly difficult.

We also know you have to play the game on the field (which we would also say for today) but we see some teams we would classify as terrible remaining: Arizona (sorry, Jon Gannon), Denver, Chicago, and a Jets team without Aaron Rodgers.

Also, we would consider the games against the Rams, Texans, and Colts very winnable, especially if Watson is playing. If they emerge victorious in those contests, that’s nine wins and that makes them a playoff contender.

Again, there are a lot of variables to consider, especially injuries. However, even with a loss tomorrow, there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about the Cleveland Browns.

Imagine that…the words optimism and Browns in the same sentence.

Turnovers, Not Coaching Is The Browns’ Problem Right Now.

The knee-jerk reaction for most Browns fans and media alike after a loss is to blame the play calling. And of course, that leads to talking about hiring a new coach.

Kevin Stefanski is no different. Add the losing to his stoic, unemotional demeanor and that he doesn’t scream on the sidelines and grab players by the facemask, and it’s easy to see why football fans in northeast Ohio haven’t embraced the Browns head coach.

Look, we aren’t saying Stefanski is the second coming of Paul Brown or Blanton Collier for that matter. Those two are #1 and #2 on the franchise’s all-time wins list for coaches. But he has won more games than Butch Davis and Romeo Crennel, both of whom have coached more games.

We wish Stefanski would change some things. We would like to see more use of David Njoku in space, and right now, he seems to have fallen in love with his new toy, that being Elijah Moore.

He has tried to make Moore an all purpose offensive threat, but in the first four games of the season, Moore has caught 17 passes for 148 yards, 8.7 per catch, and rushed 7 times for 3 yards, although he lost 20 yards on one attempt in the Baltimore game.

That has led to Donovan Peoples-Jones, who caught 61 throws for 839 yards a year ago, to be virtually ignored so far this year. He’s been targeted just 14 times, catching six passes for 75 yards.

He’s one of only three Browns to average over 10 yards per catch this year, and one of them, Kareem Hunt, has only caught two passes.

From the criticism on sports talk shows and social media, you would think the Browns were 0-4 and headed toward the first overall pick in next spring’s NFL Draft.

Instead, they are 2-2 despite losing the turnover battle in each game they’ve played this season. And as GM Andrew Berry said in his press conference last week, that’s a difficult way to win games in the NFL.

We said before the season started that despite the endless debate on the team all year in the area, the fortunes of the Cleveland Browns depended on the play of Deshaun Watson, who the organization dealt three first round draft picks and paid a king’s ransom in salary for.

If he plays well, the Browns will win and make the playoffs. If he plays like he did in the six games he appeared in last season, Cleveland will struggle, Stefanski will likely be fired and the organization will be going in a new direction.

Again.

The defense is playing at a high level. And if the offense doesn’t hand the Steelers two touchdowns in week two, Cleveland likely wins that game. And of course, last weekend they were forced to play Dorian Thompson-Robinson, a rookie fifth round draft pick, as Watson was injured.

Aaron Rodgers told Green Bay Packers fans to relax a few years ago. Browns supporters need to heed that advice. They are still 13 games left to play. If the brown and orange stop turning the ball over, they will be just fine.

No Chubb, No Watson, No Offense, No Surprise?

When the Cleveland Browns lost Nick Chubb a couple of weeks ago, we said Deshaun Watson had to take more of the offensive burden for the team.

With Watson out last Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, the offense was without both of their foundations, and the result was a 28-3 loss at home to their division rivals, dropping them to 2-2 on the season.

When GM Andrew Berry traded Josh Dobbs to Arizona before the regular season started, it left the Browns without an experienced back up. It was a gamble, and one that many people would have made, but it came back to bite them against the Ravens.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson is a rookie fifth-round draft pick, and he played like a…rookie fifth round draft pick, hitting 19 of 36 passes for just 121 yards.

The rook hit a couple of throws early, and then started missing targets resulting in an interception which set the Ravens up for their first touchdown. And with Cleveland in Baltimore territory, tried an ill-advised lateral that went out of bounds and was ruled an illegal forward pass.

We would have considered going to P.J. Walker in the second half had the score remained 14-3 after the second quarter. Someone who has played in the NFL before.

The Kevin Stefanski play calling critics are out again and strangely they only come out when the Browns lose. Weird how that works out, isn’t it?

Here’s what we think happened. The Ravens, knowing Cleveland was starting a QB who hadn’t completed a pass in an NFL game, loaded the box to shut down the run. Stefanski saw this and tried to give Thompson-Robinson some easy throw to keep him out of third and long situations.

The coach tried to do the same thing when Baker Mayfield was at the helm. He doesn’t want to be in third and long. By the way, do you know any coaches who like to be in that situation?

Besides the first offensive play, a 25-yard run by Jerome Ford canceled because of a dubious holding call on Amari Cooper, the Browns couldn’t run the ball before Pierre Strong Jr. ripped off a decent run in garbage time.

Ford had 9 carries for 26 yards, gaining 10 on one carry. Kareem Hunt? Five carries for 12 yards.

And we are pretty sure the coach didn’t tell Elijah Moore to run 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage on a jet sweep.

Perhaps the offensive line isn’t as good as advertised. The Browns have played two games without Chubb and have had trouble running in both games. And you know what happens if you can’t run the ball and stop the run.

You don’t win.

The defense sprung a leak for one quarter in the loss, allowing Baltimore to gain 206 of their 296 yards in the second quarter, resulting in two touchdowns. The good news? They adjusted in the second half, allowing just 42 yards after halftime.

They are entitled to have a bad quarter every once in a while.

If Watson is healthy enough to play the rest of the season, this is just a blip on the radar.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t things the coaching staff and front office need to figure out. Should they bring in another quarterback? The offensive line has to get better.

The defense is just fine though.

Another tough test comes after the bye week when San Francisco comes to town. If Watson is back, it will serve as a measuring stick to see how good this Browns team is.

We remain optimistic.

Biggest Browns Issue? Stop Turning Over the Football

Cleveland Browns’ fans still have to be shaken up after the season ending injury to Nick Chubb in Monday night’s loss to Pittsburgh. We know Chubb had a severe knee injury in his college days, but he seemed indestructible since coming to the Browns.

The organization won’t give up on the season though, so there are still 15 games remaining and the focal point of the offense now has to be QB Deshaun Watson.

We said before the year started that the fate of the season depended on how well Watson played, and if he didn’t play well, the Browns were essentially screwed.

It’s only two games, but Watson is still struggling, completing just 55.1% of his passes, just 5.6 yards per attempt and a quarterback rating of 69.1, which is 30th in the league, ahead of just rookie Bryce Young and Zach Wilson.

He’s behind Kenny Pickett, who looked terrible against the Browns on Monday.

He has to be better than that if the Browns want to make the playoffs.

Of course, after a Browns’ loss, the critics of Kevin Stefanski have returned complaining about play calling. What if we told you Cleveland ranked sixth in the NFL in yards gained after two weeks?

That’s where they are. They are moving the football. The problem is turnovers, as the Browns’ six have them just one behind the Vikings for the most in the league. Stop turning it over, and we think the offense will be just fine.

Besides turnovers, we have to talk about the offensive line. The interior of the line is fine with guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller and center Ethan Pocic. Rookie Dawand Jones has stepped in for Jack Conklin and has more than held his own.

But like a lot of units, it is only as good as its weakest member and right now Jedrick Wills is not playing well. Pittsburgh put a lot of pressure on Watson. Now, we understand Watson sacks himself at times, and he is fifth in being sacked with nine.

At what point though does Stefanski and offensive line coach Bill Callahan make Wills accountable for his play? It appears he is the weak link in an otherwise pretty strong unit. We don’t know what the alternative would be, but it will be a problem going forward because that’s where opponents are going to attack.

We recognize the Steelers do not have a high-powered offense, but it certainly looks like the Cleveland defense is approaching elite status if they remain healthy. Pittsburgh basically had one good offensive play all night, and the unit has allowed less than 100 yards rushing in both games.

That’s a vast improvement from the sieve against the run it was last year.

Certainly, the Browns will see offenses better than Pittsburgh in the coming weeks, but it appears the new coordinator and the new personnel have made a great difference in this unit.

As for the loss of Chubb, there is no replacing him. That’s what happens when you are the best at what you do. But we are sure Stefanski will still want to run the football and Andrew Berry will find another running back to help pick up the slack.

That said, the focal point of the offense is gone, and it is up to everyone else, particularly Watson to improve. That doesn’t mean he needs to throw for 400 yards every week though.

For us, we think the next most explosive player the Browns have on offense is TE David Njoku and Cleveland needs to find a way to get him the ball more often.

Cleveland suffered a blow with the injury to Chubb, but it becomes a worse situation if they let his absence ruin what should be a promising season.

Browns Keeping A Low Profile Right Now

The Cleveland Browns started training camp a couple of weeks ago, and have already played an exhibition game last Thursday, but it just doesn’t feel like there is any buzz right now.

Perhaps that will change this weekend when the Browns play their only pre-season game at home against the Washington Commanders, but the starting lineup is pretty much set on both sides of the football, so everything seems to be anticlimactic until the orange and brown take the field for real on September 10th against the Bengals.

We continue to say the Browns’ fortunes rest mostly on how Deshaun Watson plays. If he plays like the guy who completed 67.8% of his throws with Houston from 2017-2020, the Browns figure to be in the mix for a playoff spot, Kevin Stefanski keeps his job and GM Andrew Berry solidifies his position in the front office.

If Watson plays like he did when he returned from a year and a half layoff at the end of last season, then the franchise has a rather large problem considering how much draft capital was spent.

One area that should be much improved is the defense, particularly against the run. The Browns hired highly decorated defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. Cleveland allowed 150 or more rushing yards seven times a year ago. They went 1-6 in those games.

By the way, the league average in yards allowed on the ground in 2022 was 121.6.

Schwartz’ defenses have ranked in the top half of the league in ten of his 19 seasons where he was either head coach or defensive coordinator.

We expect the defense will be much better both in stopping the run, where really, they couldn’t get much worse, and in pass defense. Schwartz likes to have depth on the defensive line, so he can keep people fresh, and the defensive backs are already talking about how playing more man-to-man coverage plays into their strength.

The only news that can come out of this year’s training camp is bad, and that would be injuries. Already, we have seen two defensive linemen go down and will miss the opener but should be back early in the season.

And to that point, although some of the starters, most notably Watson, probably need to be on the field a bit during pre-season play, there are a few who shouldn’t see any action until week one.

In particular, we are talking about Myles Garrett, Nick Chubb, and Joel Bitonio. We don’t live in fear of injuries, they can happen without contact, but we don’t need to see this trio until Cincinnati visits for the first regular season game.

After Friday’s game, the Browns will have a controlled scrimmage against the
Eagles next week, so the starters will play in that and not the game.

It’s very likely fans here won’t see the true Browns squad after Friday
until the season opener. And that explains why there isn’t the usual buzz
around the camp.

But maybe there should be. This might be the most important season the
Cleveland Browns have had in many years.

Analyzing The Browns? To Us, It’s All On Watson

Every once in a while, we talk about the sports media in northeast Ohio being obsessed by the Cleveland Browns. We have three major league professional sports teams in the area, but we believe it is safe to say at least 85% of the coverage, both print and broadcast wise, is focused on the NFL team in town.

Over the past two weeks, the organized team activities (OTAs) have taken place, and from what we have heard and read, we believe the Browns have a solid chance to win the OTA Super Bowl, because they have looked great these past two weeks.

Really, they are a glorified practice without pads and in shorts, akin to playing touch football. Now, we understand the coaching staff has started to put the schemes in place, so the players will be ready with training camp open for real at the end of July.

So, we aren’t saying they aren’t important, but remember, this week’s activities are the only ones that are mandatory. Players don’t have to attend, and some of the team’s best players have not been there, but somehow Myles Garrett is the one who appears to have been singled out by many folks.

Those critics will claim Garrett should be there because he’s a leader on the team, but we think Nick Chubb and Joel Bitonio are both important voices in the locker room, and neither have appeared at the OTAs. What makes Garrett different?

We are sure Garrett has been in contact with Kevin Stefanski and new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and is up to speed on what the team is doing these past two weeks. Heck, he may be talking to both of them on an everyday basis.

If those two aren’t concerned, then the media and public shouldn’t be either, not that we would know if anyone in Berea is upset. They generally don’t tell anyone anything.

But we digress.

There is so much conversation about the Browns when really the evaluation of this football team is quite simple to us. It hinges on QB Deshaun Watson.

Quite simply, if Watson plays like he did in his last three seasons in Houston, the Browns will be playoff contenders at the very least.

In those three years, Watson completed 68.3%, 67.3%, and 70.2% of his throws and had at least 3800 passing yards in each, culminating in a league leading 4823 yards in 2020. Houston went 11-5 in the first of those years, and 10-6 in the second, before their defense allowed the sixth most points in the NFL in ’20, resulting in a 4-12 record.

If Watson plays like he did in his six game return a year ago, with a 58.2% completion rate, then the Browns will not be any good, and likely will be looking for a new coach for 2024.

And if the latter occurs, Cleveland is basically screwed because of the enormous price the franchise paid for Watson, which of course included three first-round draft picks.

It would also start once again the search for a franchise quarterback, something the Browns have been looking for since Bernie Kosar started getting banged up physically. That’s a road no one should be willing to revisit.

So, whether people like it or not, it’s all on Watson. Personally, we feel he was one of the top five QBs in the sport in Houston and we see no reason why he cannot return to that form.

However, it’s seeming weird that folks want to invent all kinds of other scenarios for the Browns’ success. They added a top-notch defensive coordinator with a history of success.

The roster is dotted with stars on both sides of the ball.

If Watson is the Watson of old, there is no reason for not having a playoff season.

Browns Still Have Faith In Watson. Without A Doubt.

Even though the Cleveland Browns had a pretty good free agent signing period, most pundits still don’t seem to think that highly of Kevin Stefanski’s squad, thinking they are still not a playoff team.

Most of that comes from the lack of faith in QB Deshaun Watson, who didn’t exactly light up the league when he returned from suspension for the last six games of the 2022 season.

After all, Cleveland went just 3-3 in the games Watson piloted the team, and his best passer rating in the half dozen starts was in the win over the Commanders, and he was only 9 for 18 in that game, but threw three touchdown passes with no interceptions.

The football press seems to have lost confidence in Watson, despite his last complete season in which he threw for a league-leading 4823 yards, and had 33 TD tosses and just seven picks. The Texans went 4-12 that year, allowing the sixth most points in the NFL.

Some folks in the local media have extrapolated that lack of faith from the national media and attribute it to the Browns’ front office, after all, what did Watson do in those last six games to make anyone think he can lead Cleveland to the postseason in 2023?

Don’t buy into that.

First, when the Browns decided to move off of Baker Mayfield following the 2021 campaign and go after Watson, they didn’t do it based on a whim or irritation that Mayfield had problems with some teammates and perhaps didn’t see eye to eye with Stefanski.

They did it because one of the league’s best quarterbacks, which Watson was at the time, was available and the Browns’ thinkers saw it as an opportunity to get a great QB in his prime, after all Watson will be just 28 years old when the season begins.

Really, what do you think is more indicative of Watson’s abilities, the three year period from 2018-20, when he led the Texans to two playoff appearances, including a wild card win over Buffalo, and followed that up with his individual excellence in ’21, or the last six games of last year, following a year and a half layoff?

The Browns’ front office, GM Andrew Berry, Paul DePodesta, and Stefanski did their due diligence, studied Watson’s time in Houston and we are sure it was discussed that it might be a long, long time before a QB as good as Watson, and in their prime would come available.

So, they went all in.

The Browns get charged with being dysfunctional all the time, particularly when they lose a game, but to us, being dysfunctional involves making knee-jerk decisions based on emotion. Losing faith in Watson after those half-dozen games at the end of last season would fit that profile.

They know what they traded for and they saw Watson in practice, meaning they’ve seen him more than anyone else. We are sure they still think they made the correct decision on giving up a lot of future assets for a player they believe can solve their quarterback problem for years to come.

And let’s face it, if they are wrong about the former Clemson quarterback, they made a colossal mistake, one that will take them years to recover from.

When you make a move like this, there is no going back, and that’s why the Browns went hard in free agency. They know the time to win is right now. We are sure they are confident that Deshaun Watson is the man to take them to the Super Bowl.

Losing faith on this would be a sign this leadership group is doomed.

Browns Goal: Make Watson & Chubb Together Be Scary

This is the silly season for the NFL. Free agency starts next week on March 15th, with the “legal tampering” being able to be done next Monday.

All over the landscape, fans are talking about what players they can bring in to help for the 2023 season.

And in Cleveland, it’s all about creating salary cap room since the Browns are currently over the cap. Browns fans being Browns fans, they talk about trading one of the higher paid players on the team for draft picks in order to create room to sign a veteran free agent.

Usually though, those higher paid players are the best players on the team, so does it really make sense to toss away a good player when you need to win next season?

It’s the mentality that all draft picks will turn out to be great players, which as we know doesn’t happen, and trading a proven star player for picks AND salary cap space is most likely just filling a hole by creating another one.

Which brings us to the latest stories saying the Browns should consider trading Nick Chubb because either Cleveland is going to throw on every down next season or to create cap space so they can improve the defense.

First, let us say that anyone is tradable for the right return. For example, if the Kansas City Chiefs offered the Browns Patrick Mahomes for Chubb or a team offered you two first round draft picks for him, you have to make the trade. We all know that’s not going to happen though.

We are sure the offense is going to change from a ground and pound style to a more passing friendly attack next year anyway. Why do we say this? How many games did you watch with Jacoby Brissett at QB and wonder why Cleveland didn’t run the football more?

Kevin Stefanski likes to put the football in the air.

And it’s Stefanski’s job to make sure Deshaun Watson and Chubb can play together and have the offense thrive using both. It’s not an either/or situation.

We have wondered for years why Chubb hasn’t been used more in the passing game. Was it simply because it was a good way to get Kareem Hunt on the field and get Chubb some rest?

Chubb did catch 36 passes in 2019, the year before Stefanski took over, but last season was his high in receptions with the current head coach. He had 27. And quite frankly, if the Browns gave Chubb 20 less carries and converted that to 20 more catches, why would that be a problem?

It would seem to us getting the ball in space to a punishing runner like Nick Chubb would pose a big problem for opposing defenses, and not being hit by defensive linemen would be good for Chubb’s longevity.

But the real answer here is getting to a point where both Watson and Chubb can be very productive. And that’s on the coaching staff. Having weapons like the QB Deshaun Watson and Nick Chubb shouldn’t be a problem. It should be an embarrassment of riches.