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The Cleveland Browns have select company among NFL franchise, and they would rather kick this company out of the house. The company referenced is that of three other NFL teams that have also never reached a Super Bowl - the Detroit Lions, the Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Additionally, the Lions and Texans have never reached a conference championship game which serves as a Super Bowl semifinal.
Coming off a 3-14 season that tied the New York Giants and the Browns for the worst NFL record in 2024, Cleveland will pick second in the NFL Draft that begins next Thursday, April 24, in Green Bay. Miami QB Cam Ward is expected to go first to the Titans, followed by Colorado two-way player and 2024 Heisman winner Travis Hunter to Cleveland. Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter is expected to be selected by the Giants with the third over-all pick..
It doesn't a 3-14 season, but things have improved dramatically for Cleveland over the last five seasons beginning with a 12-6 finish in 2020 that saw the Browns snap a 12-year streak of sub.-500 records and the first playoff berth in 17 years (2002). They defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 48-37, in the Wild Card round for the first playoff win since 1994, but dropped a 22-17 decision at Kansas City in the divisional round.
Cleveland slipped back to 8-9 in 2021 and 7-10 in 2022, missing the playoffs both years, before rising once again to an 11-7 finish in 2023 after a humbling 45-14 Wild Card playoff loss to the Texans.
Prior to the start of the Super Bowl era in 1966, Cleveland made the NFL Championship and eviscerated the then-Baltimore Colts 27-0 in 1964 to claim the title. Best of all, it came in front of the home folks.
In 1965, Cleveland had to visit Titletown where they fell 23-12 at Green Bay.
The last time the franchise had enduring success was during the days that saw the popular Bernie Kosar at quarterback (1985-1993) when Cleveland made three conference championship games but, alas, never prevailed.
Clearly, one of the glaring missing pieces has been at QB, though the 2023 season was quite unusual with five different starting quarterbacks - Deshaun Watson, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, PJ Walker, Jeff Driscoll and Joe Flacco - being utilized at some point during the season. Watson started six games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. Flacco was just resigned to the team on April 11.
Baker Mayfield was the QB for the 2020 run.
Here's a look at the 2025 season against the backdrop of huge doubt by bettors and oddsmakers that Cleveland will see much improvement with the Browns O/U win total at 5.5.
2024 Record: 3-14 regular season, 2-4 AFC North (4th place), 3-9 vs. AFC, 0-5 vs. NFC
Odds to win 2025 Super Bowl: +20000, tied at No. 29 for lowest of all teams
Odds to Win AFC North: +2500, No. 4 of 4
General Manager: Andrew Berry (2020)
Head Coach: Kevin Stefanski (2020)
Offensive Coordinator: Tommy Rees (2025)
Defensive Coordinator: Jim Schwartz (2023)
The mind trust behind the 2025 draft for Cleveland includes Andrew Berry who came in as GM in 2020 when he became the youngest GM in NFL history at the time at age 32. (Source: wikipedia)
Head coach Kevin Stefanski also came onboard in 2020 and immediately completed a season that saw him win the AFC Coach of the Year award. He repeated that win in 2023. Stefanski is 41-46 in his five season, thus far, including a 1-2 record in the playoffs.
Tommy Rees takes over at OC for the fired Ken Dorsey in 2025. Rees had just joined the Cleveland staff in 2024 as tight ends coach and passing game specialist. The Browns were ranked 28th in total offense a year ago. They were 29th on the ground and 22nd through the air.
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz won the 2023 NFL Assistant Coach of the Year Award in his first season with the Browns when they ranked first in total defense, 1st in pass defense and 11th in run defense. Last year, Cleveland fell all the way to 19th in total defense while ranking 12th against the pass and 21st against the run.