DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns 2021 Schedule....

I didn't seem to find this posted anywhere but if it is, by all means mods you can combine or remove this post.

So, what do we think of this schedule?

2021 Cleveland Browns Schedule

Date TBA
at Baltimore Ravens
M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD

Date TBA
at Cincinnati Bengals
Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH

Date TBA
Baltimore Ravens
FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH

Date TBA
Cincinnati Bengals
FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH

Date TBA
Pittsburgh Steelers
FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH

Date TBA
Denver Broncos
FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH

Date TBA Las Vegas Raiders
Las Vegas Raiders
FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH

Date TBA
Chicago Bears
FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH

Date TBA
Detroit Lions
FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH

Date TBA
Houston Texans
FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH

Date TBA
at Green Bay Packers
Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI

Date TBA
at Kansas City Chiefs
Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Date TBA Los Angeles Chargers
at Los Angeles Chargers
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA

Date TBA
at Minnesota Vikings
U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN

Date TBA
at New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA

Date TBA
at Pittsburgh Steelers
Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA

https://fbschedules.com/nfl-2021/team/cleveland-browns

Outside of our division (the same every year), we have a couple brutal games against the Packers and Chiefs.

Then again, both teams face a possible salary crunch and Rodgers wants out of Green Bay. Could you imagine facing the Jordan Love lead Packers?

Heck, that might be a 12-4 year (hey, it's possible).

I think in 2022 we face the Brees-less Saints, Ryan-less Falcons, Brady-less Bucs and the Panthers. Let the dynasty begin!

Then again, by then Bill will have found the Patriots a QB and the AFC East could be pretty brutal.

That does not look like the super difficult season that I’ve been hearing about. Yea of course Packers & Chiefs and Ravens and Steelers but literally nothing else looks very intimidating.

AFC West and NFC North are both solid divisions, but neither had more than one team finish over .500.


I'd be more concerned if we had to play the NFC West but I think that's not until 2023.

The Seahawks
A Stafford lead Rams
A likely rebounding 49ers team
and a dangerous (albeit over-rated) Cardinals team.

That's the only division that will likely be stronger than the one we have to play in anyway

Heck, if the Bungals ever fix that horrid O-line, even they may be dangerous.

If we can go 4-2 in our own division, I see no reason 7-3 or 8-2 outside the division shouldn't be possible.

The Steelers, you say?

Trying to remember off the top of my head, but in addition to having to have Roethlisberger restructure and Pouncey probably retire, they'll probably have to restructure Joe Haden and cut Eric Ebron (no loss there) just to get within range of the cap.

At that point, I believe Villanueva, Feller and the 3rd O-lineman who's name I can never remember (he got injured this year and the Dotson kid came in) as free agents. Leaving their O-line as...David Decastro and trash.

Their most reliable hands in Smith-Schuster
Their most talented back in James Conner
Their 2nd best edge rusher in Bud Dupree
Their slot corner in Mike Hilton
Their Nose in Tyson Alualu
A few depth guys like Wormley.

Going to be an interesting off season by the old 3 rivers

Until I see them actually collapse, like totally not just some games here and there, I’ll expect them to keep getting up like Jason in Friday the thirteenth. All the signs point to them being in for a real reckoning but until we womp on them at least a couple games in a row I’ll consider any Steelers game to be eminently losable unless we play well.

Browns 2020 beat Steelers two games in a row and knock them out of the playoffs!

Given our success and national popularity .... plus the games on the schedule, we’re going to have a butt load of 4:25 and prime time games (and don’t forget the Arizona game will either be home or away .. that’s not on your list)

I can see:

At LA Chargers 4:25 or 8:20 start
At Kansas City 4:25 or 8:20 start
At Green Bay 4:25 or 8:20 start
At New England 4:25 or 8:20 start
At/Home Pittsburgh 4:25 or 8:20 start
At/Home Baltimore 4:25 or 8:20 start
At/Home Arizona 4:25 or 8:20 start
Home Chicago 4:25 or 8:20 start


Heck, maybe a small chance vs Las Vegas or at Minnesota

Red, I can just picture chiefs and packers fans looking at their home schedule and saying geez we have some brutal games at home. We have those tough browns coming in.

yep, our division games will be scrappy, as they usually are, however, I think we can win the division, especially if Berry can somehow improve the D, in both FA and the Draft.

I think 3-3 in the division is our minumum and 5-1 is the best we do, I'm leaving room for one loss. LOL

GB and KC are the toughest games, IF Rodgers is not in GB then even that game is very winnable. Now KC is a tougher game, we should have beat them the last several times we've played them but we didn't. We need to not get down too far or at all early in the game and, if possible, get the lead and win time of possession by a wide margain.

As for the rest of the games, all are winnable, for sure, but I think the Raiders, Vikings, Houston (only because of their D), and maybe the Chargers (Browns don't seem to do well on west coast trips) but in this case, I think we win most of these.

If we stay healthy, get the bye at the right time, I see 11-5/12-4 for us next season and playoffs, possible division title. IF somehow the D is improved, then I see 12-4/13-3, division title and a solid Super Bowl run, with a very good chance at getting there and actually winning it.

the site I got this schedule from does not have Arizona listed as a game, and there is 16 games already if you count 2 games from each division opponent and the rest. So maybe we don't play the Cardinals this next season?

When do the dates get confirmed?

I don't actually know but my guess is around or right after the draft.

I would assume the week of the draft

I can't wait... I really want to see a game in person next year if Covid is calmer... I was hoping to go to Dallas this year but with the limited tix couldn't go...

yeah the NFL has approved the 17th game ... and it’s against an NFC opponent who finished in the same spot in their division each year. This year it’s the NFC West ... Arizona.

Whether or not it’s home/away we don’t know yet

Hard to say what teams will be like next year. Rosters change, injuries happen. With FA and e draft any team can improve vastly in one year, especially if they were a solid team to start with.


If we improve the defense and add some speed, we can have another good year. Winning the opener

Too early to predict because we don't know what any team will look like during the season (FA/draft/cap reduction) - but I can see anywhere between 8 and 12 wins. My first thought was 10 or 11.

After this past season, if we get our defense sorted enough to stand tougher with Lamar (yes, just him, not the rest of that team) and Kansas City, then there isn't a single team on our schedule that I'm worried about.

On defense, we have the need...

...the need for speed.

On social media, I've seen some discussion about getting J.J. Watt, is he a Free Agnet? If so, then I say sign him, if not, I don't know about trading for him, depends on what we could get him for.

I'd love to see him team with Myles for a few seasons but we still need to get younger guys in the draft. I don't know what other good defensive candidates are out there for trade or FA. Any, thoughts, suggestions?

He is not a free agent, nor is he slated to be one, yet, but due to salary cap constraints, he is expected to get released.

Thanks Prp, well, if he gets released, he would be quite an addition, again, fora fair price. I'd sure hate to see him end up on the Rats, yikes and it would not be much fun for him to be on Pitt either.

The other two teams I can think of would be the Bills and KC, could really help them out short term, so long as he stays healthy, which is always a concern for aging players, actually he might be a nice fit on the Bucs as well. Just thinking of teams taht currently seem to be playoff/Super Bowl contenders.

Even IF we do sign him, we still need to find younger guys either in FA and/or especially the draft.

It's usually a part of the draft build up.

The draft dates start April 29th. My guess would be Thursday April 22nd, the week before.


As far as who will be tough and who won't, each year is different. You just never know until you get there.

They would likely try to trade him before they release him, but I'd rather give up draft capital for a younger guy like one of the ones I mentioned I think in the Trades thread. There are a number of young and very productive DE's slated to become free agents, but I expect a few may get re-signed, a couple could get tagged, one might get his 5th year option invoked. If push came to shove, I'd rather trade for one of those guys, if possible, just because of age. Also, Watt is in the last year of his contract (at like $17 million)... I wouldn't want to use draft capital trading for a player over 30 on a one year rental with a salary like that.

The last day teams can claim the fifth year option is between the last regular season game of his third contract year and May 3 of the next League Year (Art. 7, Sec. 7, (a), 31).

So any player who is in the last year of their four year rookie deal that could be claimed for the fifth year option would have to have been done by May 3rd, 2020.

https://frontofficenfl.com/2017/03/27/nfl-rookie-contracts-explained-fifth-year-option/

perfect! So the dude from Detroit (Okwara?) should hit the market.

They would still have the option of signing him to a new contract or they could use a transition tag/franchise tag on him, but they can't use the fifth year option on his rookie deal.

Right, but they can't just take the option and lock him in now. That's a bonus.

As for tags... yeah, that's always a possibility for any of them, and Detroit may be in the business of stockpiling picks, now. I'd strongly consider giving up a 2nd rounder for that guy.

Yeah, it's certainly a possibility that a reasonable trade can be made or that he may hit the open market. Any time you remove an option from a team it limits their possibilities.

I think in order to make such a trade one would first have to negotiate a contract with him prior to a trade. I think it's going to be harder to came to a long term deal with players who feel they can make a substantial gain by waiting a year or two to make such a long term deal. With the cap being lower this coming season I can see why players like this may be opting for short term contracts if they can find them.

I would hate to give up a second rounder to find out we could only lock him up for a year or two.

I think this off season is going to be more complicated than some people think it will be.

Are you considering using the tag in your response. Maybe more tags need to be madeavailakle this year. But as I write that, I also believe you almost overpay the player who gets the tag. Tags are for agents. Additional tags pretty much assure a player will be traded. I think some of the contracts this year may be different and depart from past usual practices.

I think there will be a lot of short term contracts for sure; I said as much elsewhere, but I also think the long term contracts will still be pretty big, but I think we'll see teams doing those have a tendency to backload their contracts. Still a decent signing bonus, but ballooning salaries with regular bonuses for workouts and roster. It allows a player to still cash in big, but also allows teams an out, which then also gives both parties incentive to renegotiate after next season or the one after.

Without a doubt. And seeing as how Baker and Ward's 5th year options don't kick in until 2022 and Garret's extension doesn't balloon until 2023, the Browns should be in good shape to use those 1-2 year deals to their advantage.

NFC North

Packers - Tough game. Rodgers is staying around don't believe the reports he's likely to stay.

Detroit is a dumpster fire.. the only thing keeping them in games was Matt

Chicago has their vaunted Defense, if Mitchel Trubiski or Nick Foles is throwing passes for this team, their FO did something wrong.

Vikings - They're the wild card. Stefon Diggs is talented. It depends on if you get good Kirk or Bad Kirk that game. Luckily the Browns has the edge up given stefanski.


AFC West

Broncos - they have a pretty good running attack and they have a pretty good D. They don't have a qb. With Elway walking away from GM duties I see an improvement for this team. It depends on if they can find a QB. It might be someone's job if they start Drew Lock

Chargers - A new coach might be exactly what they need. Herbert has a rifle for an arm... get some more weapons for Herbert and if they can shore up their D... I can see second place.

Raiders - The raiders have proven that they play tough in the beginning of the season... they get cocky in the second half and blow it. It might be a Gruden thing... we'll see if it continues to trend. They are the only team to beat the Chiefs in 2 years. If their new D coordinator can keep that side of the ball disciplined.. they might have a chance.

Chiefs- You're looking at possible back to back superbowl wins. Cap hell might be the only thing that keeps this team from repeating. One of the best FOs in the country. Can't root against Andy.. the man continues to win.



Other teams

Houston is a garbage fire. Rumors are that Deshaun sits if he doesn't get trade. Welcome to the basement.

New England is gonna need to strip it down and rebuild some.... lots of old guys and they need to get younger. Other reports along the lines that guys went to NE not because they liked Bill as much as they were guaranteed to win. GOnna be interesting


Steelers are 50ish over the cap... they're going to have tear stuff down. Ben isn't retiring this year.. that too would hurt against the cap...

If cincy addresses their Oline they might be a darkhorse team to watch out for... not someone who anyone should look up.

If the Browns can get some speed on Defense... Lamar is one dimensional. He pulls it down too soon But they're also really good at what they do.



T

You were the first on it...I agree with this take as well.

Did they get him back from the Bills?

my mistake... Justin Jefferson is wildly talented...

Very good points, I would also rather have younger players, so I'm inclined to agree with you. IF we can get Watt for a reasonable deal, then fine, but otherwise, getting younger productive players is a better investment.