Although we remain a fan of the Cleveland Browns, we have to admit it is tough to keep following them even though we are a lifelong resident of northeast Ohio. Every time someone from their front office speaks publicly, our BS meter soars.

And we absolve new coach Todd Monken from this. He just got here.

We have said many times over the past few years the Browns are like the sign in the bar “free beer tomorrow”, meaning we’ll be good next season. They seem to always be telling their fan base they have a plan to get good, and we will see that plan in a year. If we hear one more fan or media person talking about “kicking the can down the road” one more time, we will scream.

We understand an NFL team is not likely to win a Super Bowl unless they have great quarterback play, but this is also true: Just because you have a great QB doesn’t mean you are going to win the championship.

Here is a list of current quarterbacks who haven’t won the Super Bowl: Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Dak Prescott, Jared Goff. And of that group, Jackson, Allen, Herbert, and Prescott have never played in the title game. Now, we agree the teams they play on have a better shot of getting to the big game because they are the starting QBs.

But it seems the Browns’ plan to win is get a draft pick in the top three selections in the draft, take their guy and everything will fall into place.

Except they did that before and it didn’t work. Remember 1-31? We do, and the Browns got Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick.

How can we forget the parade in downtown Cleveland when they won their first Super Bowl? It’s easy. It never happened.

First, you don’t need a top three or even five pick to get a great quarterback. You need someone who can tell a great one when they see one, and to be fair, you do need a fairly high draft choice, although you don’t need to go 3-14 every year to get one.

Patrick Mahomes is the best QB in the NFL, right? He was the 10th overall pick and Kansas City did not have an extended span of losing when they took him.

Allen was the 7th overall pick in 2018. This after the Bills were stuck in mediocrity but weren’t terrible. They won six or more games in seven straight seasons before taking Allen.

The current champion Seattle Seahawks do have a top three pick at quarterback in Sam Darnold, but they didn’t draft him. And the last time the franchise won less than six games? Try 2009. And they won 10 or more games ten times in that span.

It can be done without putting your fan base through seasons where they don’t play competitive football. It starts with putting an emphasis on winning. It’s having a culture.

We will be interested in seeing how the Steelers and Ravens do in 2026 because they have a winning culture in their organization and now, they will both have new coaches.

As for the Browns, how about making winning a priority, now! Stop talking about new dome stadium, future draft capital, salary cap manipulations and justifying terrible trades and say we are going to compete for a playoff spot next season.

It’s starts there and it’s really simple. Winning football cures a franchise malaise.