Brandon Jackson

Just like it is at the end of every season of the Browns’ existence, it’s complicated.

The team fired it’s head coach, who most people believe is a good coach. But after 101 games, 45-56 isn’t good enough. The team needs a new quarterback, but isn’t in range to pick a good one in the draft. The team kept the general manager who was hired alongside the head coach. He was the face of the worst trade in maybe the history of the NFL, but he still gets to keep his job. Like I said, it’s complicated.

The GM was the face of the trade, but the owner of the team Jimmy Haslam all but admitted that the trade being completed was his fault, and something that he pushed for. He’s the one who had to pay out the contract, so that blame should rightfully fall at his feet. But Andrew Berry isn’t without blame. The whole offensive unit has been a mess for two years. The offensive line has been, well… offensive. The quarterback situation has been the worst in the league. The wide receiver situation has been just as bad, if not somehow worse. This team in 2025 did not have an NFL-level Nickel corner on its roster.

General Manager Andrew Berry’s saving grace was the 2025 draft class. By all accounts, it was his best draft class by far, and one of the best in the league in recent memory. Carson Schwesinger will be an All-Pro, maybe as soon as next year. Mason Graham helped facilitate Myles Garrett getting the sack record. Quinshon Judkins was one of two working pieces in the offense before he got injured. Dylan Sampson has shown he can be a very good change-of-pace back. Isaiah Bond has made strides. Adin Huntington has made plays on all three phases of the team. And what was maybe the crowning achievement in the class, Harold Fannin Jr. being selected in the third round will pay dividends for years to come for whoever is in charge of this team next.

The quarterbacks that were selected did not get you an unquestioned starter. The third round QB underperformed his draft slot. The fifth round QB played above a fifth round pick level, but neither are the answer for this team moving forward.

How are we supposed to feel about a front office that didn’t select an offensive in this draft? Or has picks but no quarterback to select?

We know that in 2026 we will have a new head coach. Kevin Stefanski being fired was the correct move, even if there is potential for him to have success elsewhere. Yes it may not have been his fault that he had no offensive personnel to work with, but there were numerous decisions over the past two years in-game that had to be answered for. He did not lose the locker room, and the team fought for him until the very end, but something had to change in order for this team to move forward, and the easiest piece to change is the head coach. I wish Kevin Stefanski well, I have no bad feelings about him. The most happy memories I have as a Browns fan came with him as head coach. But the problem is some of the worst memories I have, he was on the sideline for those too.

I’ll never forget the feeling of when Odell Beckham Jr. took a reverse for the game winning touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys. But I’ll also never forget Baker Mayfield throwing 4 interceptions on Christmas.

The question of who fans want to be head coach and who will get hired will be answered in due time. The uncertainty that Browns fans feel right now is all too familiar. I think I can speak for most of us that feel like even though firing the coach was the correct move, we don’t expect to get the next hire right, either. We don’t really expect Andrew Berry to get the job done before it’s his name that’s reported by @RapSheet that he’s been fired. We know Jimmy Haslam will continue to be the bane of our existence as an owner, but we also know he will continue to spend money on the team.

So for now, we do what we always do. We wait for free agency, we wait for the draft, and we hope. Why do we still hope after all these years and ups and downs (with mostly downs)?

Well, it’s complicated.