It wasn't just a losing season, it was an ugly season
The season was more than just disappointing. Sometimes in this league, whether it's injuries piling up or lack of roster talent, it's just not your year. For the Cleveland Browns, this season was the worst in years. In terms of record, unless Cleveland wins out, they will post their worst record since 2017. That was of course the infamous winless season, so the bar couldn't be lower.
Five of their 11 losses this season have been against teams with a losing record, so they aren't even winning the games they are supposed to. Most of their losses have been out of reach too, as seven of them were lost by two scores or more. To describe these losses as "ugly" simply doesn't do it justice, so it's not as simple as needing to close out games.
The offense is completely broken
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. When was the last time you saw a NFL team fall from a top 10 scoring offense to 30th in points the following year? In the offseason, Kevin Stefanski decided to make coaching changes. He hired offensive line coach Andy Dickerson, offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, and running backs coach Duce Staley.
These changes proved to be faulty as the Browns currently average their worst yards per carry since 2014 and are the worst 3rd down team in the NFL, converting only 28.6% of the time. The Browns gave Stefanski the power to tweak his offensive staff and the team got worse despite the same core roster pieces on offense.
After these faulty changes, how can we be confident he can make the changes necessary to improve?
Andrew Berry has big failures on his Browns resume
When people talk about Browns' future, the biggest talking point is Deshaun Watson. Not only is his $230 million contract restricting their offseason cap number, but Watson has had one of the worst seasons for a QB ever recorded in the NFL. This season he has the worst QBR of any signal caller in the league with 23. He was also the only QB this year to post a single-digit QBR in multiple games this season.
This, along with poor free-agent signings and drafts, are part of the reason this team has underperformed. Many people think owner Jimmy Haslam was behind the Watson move but the reality is, this was led by the Browns front office.
Between the interviews with general manager Andrew Berry and people close to the organization, the message has been the same. Berry convinced Haslam to move off of Baker Mayfield and made the move to bring in Watson.
Berry's drafts haven't been good either. Since becoming the GM in 2020, 12 draft picks are no longer on the team and three picks were cut after their first year with the team. Only two of his draft picks, Grant Delpit and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, were given multi-year contract extensions.
If draft blunders and the biggest roster failure in the history of this franchise have Berry's name on it, it's likely he is not the man who is capable of fixing it.
Stefanski has a discipline issue.
One of the greatest qualities of an NFL coach is to be a leader of men. This means maximizing the talent on the roster and getting players on the same page, leading to success. Since becoming the head coach, Stefanski has ushered three key words he wants in every player: smart, tough, and accountable. Well, data shows his teams don't have accountability.
For the second year in a row, the Browns lead the league in pre-snap penalties. Offsides, illegal formations, false starts, and illegal motions have plagued these Stefanski-led teams and that falls on him. Every season since he's been here the team has committed over 100 penalties. For reference, LA Rams coach Sean McVay hasn't had a Rams team go over 100 penalties in a season since 2019.
Lack of discipline with this team can also be shown when looking at turnovers. Currently Cleveland leads the league with 27 total turnovers and were 30th in the league last year. It's very hard to beat opponents in the NFL and even harder when you are beating yourself.
Sure, Stefanski isn't teaching players to commit penalties and turnovers, but he certainly isn't correcting them. How can we expect a coach to beat teams when he can't teach a team to not beat themselves?
There's no quick fix for this team.
The worst part of the Browns' losing season is the list of issues isn't short and concentrated, it's long and widespread. Put aside Watson and the QB debacle for a second, you'll see how in trouble this team is. Nick Chubb is out for the season again, so running back needs to be addressed.
Also, left tackle Jedrick Wills has proved he is not a starter and his replacement Dawand Jones has had consecutive season-ending injuries. Those are two of many positions that need addressed and the Browns aren't in the best position to be able to fix them. Sure, they have a first-round pick again, but still have salary cap issues from the Watson deal.
This is all while having 10 players with a 20 percent snap count or higher who will become free agents in 2025. Cleveland could of course draft well, but again, Andrew Berry's resume suggests they won't even hit on half of their 2025 picks.
Of course, everyone's first question when suggesting you fire Stefanski and Berry is, "Who are you hiring to replace them?" But, when a regime has failed this badly, why does that matter? The accolades and lone playoff win mean nothing when three out of their five seasons were absolute failures. At some point, we have to realize it's time to move on and not be scared of change.
