If you are a fan of the Cleveland Browns, you’ve probably spent an unreasonable number of fall Sunday mornings and afternoons saying to yourself, “Why do I continue to do this to myself? These bums aren’t worth my time!” And yet, like clockwork, every August rolls around and hope returns with the thought that “this could finally be the year!”
While they may be one of the NFL’s most storied franchises with one of the most passionate fanbases in all of sports, they have spent the better part of the last twenty years as the league’s lovable losers and the punchline to many sports jokes. A franchise full of dysfunction, disappointment, and false hopes has teetered on giving its fans something to cheer for. Since 1999, the team has advanced to the postseason and finished with a winning regular season record just four times. And yet their fans still come back each season.
The original Cleveland Browns, established in 1946, were not as troubled as the reincarnated version, created in 1995. After the original Browns were relocated to Baltimore during a three-year period in which Cleveland was building a new stadium for their NFL franchise, the “expansion” version became a hodgepodge group of head coaches, general managers and front office personnel that struggled to share the same philosophies. Unlike similar expansion teams like Carolina and Jacksonville, which were given favorable time to build, it seemed as though the Browns were expected to have instant success on the field with an inferior product.
Unfortunately for the Browns, their dysfunction came from the top down, rather than just being limited to the individuals on the field. In 2012, Pilot Corporation CEO Jimmy Haslam, who has a current net worth of $8.5 billion, took over ownership of the Browns. Since that time, the front office has been a revolving door of one hire after another, with little chance to build on anything if it wasn’t immediately successful.
Unlike traditionally favored teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had three coaches in 50 years, or the stability of the New England Patriots with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady or Andy Reid in both Philadelphia and Kansas City, the Browns' revolving door of coaches and quarterbacks (30 in total since 1999) who were both overmatched and undermined, has led to instability and lack of success.
Who can forget the hopeless 0-16, 2017 Browns? As a result of bad hires, poor drafting, and a lack of culture, the “Dog Pound” was made to suffer through one of the most embarrassing seasons in NFL history, joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only team to go winless over the course of a 16 game schedule. It would be a challenge to find a sportsbook that had the Browns favored to win at any point that season.
In the spring of 2022, Cleveland went for a “Hail Mary” by trading for talented but troubled quarterback Deshaun Watson. In exchange, the Browns mortgaged their future, moving three first-round picks, along with a third and two fourth-round picks. If that wasn’t concerning enough, Watson received a fully guaranteed 5yr/$230 million deal. Due to suspensions and injuries, Watson has played just 19 games over the course of three seasons with the Browns.
However, there have been glimmers of hope that have teased Browns fans into thinking that things are changing. Most recently, a pair of 11-win seasons in 2020 and 2023 under head coach Kevin Stefanski, including a Wild Card playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020, gave the impression that there might actually be a light at the end of the long, dark tunnel and for the first time in years, the odds in many mobile betting apps didn’t sit in the triple digits — a subtle sign of growing confidence in the Browns. Unfortunately, infighting, injuries, and more bad transactions brought regression in 2024.
The Browns’ cupboard is not completely bare, especially on the defensive end with Myles Garrett (EDGE), and Denzel Ward (cornerback) while David Njoku (tight end), Nick Chubb (running back) and Jerry Jeudy (wide receiver) capture the spotlight offensively. If the team can figure out which of their five (technically four with the injury to Watson) quarterbacks (such a Browns’ thing to do, especially when drafting two QBs in the same draft class) will be given the nod as QB1 at the start of the season, they might be able to settle in on a game plan to improve on their 3-14 record from last year.
Although it seems like GM Andrew Berry and Stefanski are trying to make a Picasso from a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, the abstract art that has once been the Browns now seems at the very least to be a clearer picture.
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