The Browns are the flavor of the 2019 NFL offseason, with many proclaiming them the most improved team in the league. They are the latest team to win in March, which of course guarantees nothing come September through December. So I'm going to paraphrase Dennis Green, a coach with whom I worked in Minnesota, by saying this of the Browns: "If you want to crown them, go ahead and crown them."
I'm an optimist by nature, but I want to see the Browns in the playoffs for the first time since 2002 — the longest drought in the NFL — before I believe they truly have turned the corner and are headed to the elite status so many are predicting. There are too many variables that remain in play, any of which could doom Cleveland's high hopes.
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Yes, general manager John Dorsey has done a nice job adding talent with the selections of defensive end Myles Garrett and quarterback Baker Mayfield at the top of the past two drafts, plus the influx of premier players in receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, pass-rusher Olivier Vernon, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson and running back Kareem Hunt (a signing I don't like). But we are talking about a team that went 7-8-1 last season and was still looking up at the Ravens and Steelers in the AFC North standings.
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer to long-suffering Browns fans who watched their team finish last in the AFC North seven straight years (and 13 of 15) before finally climbing out of the cellar last season. It is just too soon to say this is the next great NFL team.
I personally have felt the stings of promising seasons that went south. In 2001, our Titans team was coming off a 13-3 year and was a Super Bowl pick by many, but our secondary was decimated by injuries that season, and we finished 7-9. Similarly, our Vikings team in 1995 had won the division the previous year, which was Warren Moon's first season as our QB. There were big expectations for us going into the season, but a 3-5 start punctuated by overtime losses to Dallas and Tampa Bay made the hill too big to climb. We wound up 8-8.
There are so many examples of teams looking great on paper but the promise not materializing on the field. Sometimes that's due to major injuries, and Beckham's 2017 Giants are a good example. After an 11-5 season in 2016, they fell to 3-13 with Beckham's broken ankle in October of '17 a major reason for the downfall. In total, Beckham missed 16 games over the past two years, so his health is a concern for Cleveland.
HAISLOP: Kitchens can handle the pressure
At last week’s annual NFL meeting, Saints coach Sean Payton delivered an interesting (and telling) line when he was asked about facing rookie head coaches: "We're excited to play those teams."
Payton knows those teams are operating in transition mode with inexperienced leaders, which brings us to Freddie Kitchens.
The first-year Browns coach must manage an all-time diva in Beckham and lots of other egos in the Browns locker room. In Beckham's introductory media conference this week, the receiver was comical with his statements, “All I care about is winning,” and coming to Cleveland is “the biggest blessing in my life and the start of something great."
Will Beckham feel that way if he catches only two balls in a loss in Baltimore, for example? What about if Kitchens decides to pound the rushing attack with a fine back in Nick Chubb? Will Kitchens still be professing his love for Beckham when the coach's game plans and play selections are inevitably questioned by the mercurial wideout?
Speaking of inexperience, Mayfield had a nice finish to his rookie season and looks like a future star, but he still threw 14 interceptions in his 14 starts and ranked 20th in passer rating. He has a ways to go before being a playoff-caliber QB. Defenses also will be more prepared to defend Mayfield in Year 2, so there will be the inevitable growing pains; the kind that could incite Beckham to criticize his young QB.
Hunt's return will be another issue and potential distraction for Kitchens and the Browns to manage, including extra media attention, possible fan protests and the coaches having to decide how to rotate Hunt and Chubb. Defensively, the Browns have a new coordinator in former Cardinals coach Steve Wilks. He will bring his tweaks to the Browns' system, and there will be an adjustment period for the players.
Team chemistry is an overused term, but it is a legitimate question about the 2019 Browns as their new players adjust to a new team and city.
Then there's team owner Jimmy Haslam, who has a history of meddling in football operations.
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I'm happy for the Dawg Pound dwellers who are so excited about the upcoming season. I'm also sure they are realistic enough to know things easily could unravel before they see a home playoff game, or even a wild-card playoff game at all.
When a team is as bad as the Browns have been for so long and has the first pick in the draft two straight years, it's hard not to improve the talent level. We see teams jump into the playoffs every year who have been on the outside looking in for a long time.
But other than the Patriots winning the AFC East and being a Super Bowl contender in the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era, nothing in the NFL is a given.
We are still talking about the Browns and their dreadful recent history, so let's pump the brakes on the lofty predictions until they prove themselves when it counts.
