“This is our year,” says every Cleveland Browns fan months before their next season starts, knowing that’s far from true. Year after year the Browns continue to fail and fall short of the beloved Super Bowl win that we all want. The 2025 season will likely be the same.
In the 2024 season, the Browns finished with a flattering 3-14 record that really showed how great of a football team we are…not. After entering the 2024 free agency the Browns signed Wide Receiver Jerry Jeudy along with Linebacker Jordan Hicks who were solid players. Pair that with a hopeful (but not really) Deshaun Watson at quarterback (QB), Myles Garrett at defensive end, Amari Cooper at receiver, a returning Nick Chubb at running back and other key players, the Browns looked like they could be trouble to the league.
But quickly did all that fail as the season started. Watson looked awful, Chubb was not quite back till mid season, and a horrible play caller in Offensive Coordinator Ken Dorsey caused lots of losses to start the year. Later that season, Watson gets hurt (wasn’t good anyways), Chubb returns but isn’t the same ability, Cooper gets traded for dirt, and our offensive line could barely stop a pee wee player. We looked like trash.
After small spurts of fun with backup quarterback Jameis Winston, it was time to tank for a high draft pick. We were fortunate to get to pick 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Here is where the 2025 offseason starts. We are set with the second overall pick, and had just restructured Watson’s boat of a contract to free us some cap space. Our only talk is what we will do with our draft and who will be QB.
Things look a little better for us until…Cleveland’s favorite in Myles Garrett publicly requests a trade so he can seek a championship. This shook the NFL as he was so dedicated to us and our team and still had time on this contract. Panic mode set in and the thoughts of Garrett in any other jersey haunted Browns fans.
Fortunately, a month later Garrett ends up signing a contract extension through 2030 that locks him up and makes him the highest paid non-QB in NFL history. Such a surprise for all Browns fans along with some hurt and despair due to the fact that money made a change in heart for him. Regardless, we are trending up.
There were some small cuts of players here and there, along with a trade for Philadelphia Eagles QB Kenny Pickett that was goofy but at least got rid of QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson who was not much to talk about. And that’s where we sit now, no quarterback and the second overall pick. Now there have been meetings with veteran free agent QB Russell Wilson but no signing. Where to go from here?
Well first of all, any sort of veteran quarterback is a poor idea. Names like Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, are all washed up and will most likely only play for two more years or less. Now don’t get me wrong, they can play a crucial role as a mentor to a young guy, but not worthy of a start, or a lot of money.
The place for our quarterback is the draft. With the second overall, we can either get quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders from Colorado or Cam Ward from Miami.
That’s if we don’t take defensive end Abdul Carter at two to pair with Garrett, which would require us to get a quarterback with our first pick of the second round or even later. That’s where we could get quarterbacks like Will Howard from Ohio State, Jaxon Dart from Ole Miss, or Kyle McCord from Syracuse.
From the looks of it, Sanders is very fond of Cleveland and has hinted at things saying he’s going or wants to go there and play. He isn’t the option in all honesty. He may be too reminiscent of past Browns failure of a QB Johnny Manziel. Sanders has his dad Deon Sanders yapping in his ear about his career and money which can lead to too much drama on an already drama ridden team.
Cam Ward is likely going first overall to the Tennessee Titans, but could drop to us. We could snatch him at two and leave the second round for a running back such as Treveyon Henderson or Quinsion Judkins from Ohio State, or Cam Skattebo from Arizona State.
Abdul Carter is arguably the best player in the draft and has the highest upside. Taking him at two would be a great pick no matter what, that would just mean we would need to rely on Jaxson Dart, who doesn’t look bad, to be our quarterback.
Both of these draft routes would work, it all depends on what the front office of General Manager Andrew Barry and owner Jimmy Haslam agree on.
Regardless of this draft, the 2025 season will most likely be a bust and Cleveland fans will watch yet another season of losing football. But hey, at least there is a new dome stadium in the making for us and the Cavs are playing good…
