{"id":19088,"date":"2024-11-26T22:46:31","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T22:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=19088"},"modified":"2024-11-26T22:46:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T22:46:31","slug":"browns-not-planning-hc-gm-changes-team-aiming-to-add-deshaun-watson-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=19088","title":{"rendered":"Browns Not Planning HC, GM Changes; Team Aiming To Add Deshaun Watson Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Cardinals and Titans\u2019 decisions during and after the 2022 season reveal how quickly organizations\u2019 big-picture plans can change. After signing lengthy offseason extensions, Steve Keim<\/strong> and Jon Robinson<\/strong> were out of jobs by January 2023. The Browns\u2019 historic Deshaun Watson<\/a><\/strong> misstep would naturally point to consideration into bailing on the extensions given to<\/a> Andrew Berry<\/strong> and Kevin Stefanski<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A Browns ownership group known for quick-trigger decisions for a long time finally found a coach-GM pair it deemed worthy of extending. Prior to Stefanski\u2019s arrival, no Browns HC had lasted longer than 40 games; the coach who did persist for that long (Hue Jackson<\/strong>) went 3-36-1. Under the Haslams\u2019 leadership, no GM had lasted longer than two full seasons (John Dorsey<\/strong>). Berry changed that as well. As it stands, the current Cleveland football-ops bosses are on track to extend those tenures.<\/p>\n

Although both Browns power brokers were believed to be aligned<\/a> on the 2022 Watson trade, SI.com\u2019s Albert Breer notes<\/a> the Haslams are not planning to make GM or HC changes in 2025. Browns ownership has been pleased with the way the duo has kept the team unified, even as this year\u2019s squad has fallen well short of expectations after a 2023 playoff berth and the Browns entering the season with an NFL-most 12 players signed to eight-figure-per-year contracts.<\/p>\n

Despite Watson\u2019s poor play appearing to seal the 2022 trade\u2019s place as the worst in NFL history (when finances are considered), the staffers tasked with making it work will be given a chance to rebound \u2014 likely with a new starting quarterback. Jimmy Haslam<\/strong> said soon after the trade Berry hatched the plan to fully guarantee the $230MM contract<\/a> to move the Browns back in the race \u2014 after Watson had eliminated Cleveland from consideration in an otherwise-NFC South-based sweepstakes \u2014 so it would stand to reason his seat could be hotter than Stefanski\u2019s given the latter\u2019s accolades. Right now, though, neither\u2019s seat appears too warm.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Cleveland\u2019s Jameis Winston<\/a><\/strong>-led victory in a snowstorm moved the team to 3-8. This year\u2019s Browns are on pace to check in with a worse record than they did under Freddie Kitchens<\/strong> (6-10). That season keyed Dorsey\u2019s ouster, but it appears the Haslams will be uncharacteristically patient despite the Watson trade set to plague the Browns for at least two more years. The capital Stefanski and Berry have built through playoff berths in 2020 and \u201923, both seasons producing Stefanski Coach of the Year nods, looks to be enough for the tandem to survive the historic QB mistake.<\/p>\n

On the Watson front, Breer adds the Browns are likely to keep him around \u2014 if only because of the unfathomable dead money a 2025 release would bring \u2014 but add competition. Rather than bring in a backup as the team has done for three straight years (Jacoby Brissett<\/a><\/strong>, Dorian Thompson-Robinson<\/a><\/strong>\/Joe Flacco<\/a><\/strong>, Winston), the Browns are expected to set their sights on a starter-caliber arm who can compete with Watson. Given Watson\u2019s poor performance and Achilles tear, it probably should be expected the Browns will shop for a new starter soon.<\/p>\n

This player may well need to be a draft choice, due to Watson\u2019s contract \u2014 now featuring two $72.9MM cap numbers thanks to two Berry-authorized restructures \u2014 running through 2026. But Breer adds the Browns are likely to gauge the veteran market as well.<\/p>\n

Stefanski and Berry stopped short of saying Watson will be expected<\/a> to start again in 2025, though each factored the struggling QB\u2019s injury rehab into the equation. Watson, however, saw his season end after a string of woeful performances, which brought questions to Stefanski about whether ownership was making him start the disappointing QB<\/a>. It would cost the Browns $172MM to release Watson next year; even in a post-June 1 scenario, either half of the two-offseason dead money bill would break the record the Broncos recently shattered with their Russell Wilson<\/a><\/strong> release ($83MM-plus).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As the Browns prepare to pursue a potential new starter, Watson may be set for another season in limbo. After he requested a Texans trade only to see a slew of sexual assault\/misconduct allegations surface, Houston made the former Pro Bowler a healthy scratch throughout the 2021 season. The Browns could slow-play Watson\u2019s rehab by stashing him on the reserve\/PUP list to start next season, but eventually a call to bench the sunk-cost passer will need to be made.<\/p>\n

A post-June 1 cut scenario now looks more likely to involve 2026. Unless another restructure again knocks down Watson\u2019s cap hit \u2014 which is quite possible considering no team has ever carried a $50MM-plus cap number on a payroll in-season \u2014 it would cost the Browns $99.8MM to dump Watson in 2026.<\/p>\n

It is far from certain Berry and Stefanski will be making the decisions by then, an ownership duo famous for impulsive moves during its first several years in charge is not ready to pull the plug on what had been a successful regime (well, absent a quarterback move that has otherwise defined its run).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n