DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Jack Conklin Contract Extension

Much like yourself I have no idea if Stefanski has lost the team or not. I know from my point if view they came out last week and played their hearts out. The offense still didn't score many points but I think realistic people expected that to take some time to happen when watson returned. But I could see and feel the intensity on the field last week.

One could argue whether the team was playing for watson, for their own sense of dignity, for Stefanski or a number of other reasons. I think any reason someone comes up with is only what they've convinced themselves of since we have no real way of knowing. But it's certainly what I saw when I watched that Baltimore game.

Hmmm, no I didn't. The cap this year was 218M and next year the estimate is 257M which gives the Browns about 3.5M excess with the players they have under contract not withstanding restructures and that includes the 31M carryover. That's not signing any FA's the team will have this off season, other FA pickups, or the draft. If the cap comes in at 245M, the Browns will be 9.5M in the hole before any of the above takes place. Just to give you a comparison, the Browns total cap used this year was only 186.5M of the 218M available because they moved so much to prorated bonuses. Right now, the Browns are projected to use 253.8M of the 257.8M available in 2023. A team can free up money by doing these restructures but eventually it will have to be accounted for on the cap. Previous prorated bonuses are basically costing the Browns an additional 70M of their cap in 2023 and gets bigger every year they keep deferring the cap charge. The only reason any team would do this many restructures the way the Browns are doing is that they are putting all their eggs in one basket - if they don't win though..........

And each year the salary cap increases. But you keep beating that drum.

The only spot Bitonio will be moving to in time is Retirement. He's 31 and in his 9th season. He isn't switching positions. Period.
You don't take a guy with five straight Pro Bowls at a given position and then move him to something he's never played.

He's definitely here for 2023 and he stays relatively affordable for 2024, but he will likely be gone after that, and it will likely be an easy retirement decision by then.

Despite a trying 2022 season, the Cleveland Browns are expected to retain head coach Kevin Stefanski, multiple sources tell CBS Sports.

There had been some speculation around the league that Cleveland ownership could move on from the 2020 AP NFL Coach of the Year, but sources say the Haslams haven't considered making a change.

The Browns are 6-8 and still have a minute chance of making the postseason. They, of course, had to play their first 11 games without franchise quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was serving a suspension for allegations of sexual misconduct. Cleveland went 4-7 with backup Jacoby Brissett at the controls and has won two of its three games with Watson, including last week's 13-3 win against AFC North rival Baltimore.


Stefanski is in his third year of a five-year contract he signed in January 2020. He went 11-5 in his first season and captained the Browns to their first playoff appearance since 2002. Cleveland slid to 8-9 in 2021, and one more loss this season ensures a losing record and ostensible elimination from playoff contention.

There could well be coaching staff changes this offseason for the Browns, and there could be some tweaks to the offensive philosophy as well. Team owner Jimmy Haslam is a University of Tennessee alumnus who has closely watched the Air Raid offense the Volunteers have installed to great success in the SEC.


Cleveland has the third-most rushing yards of all NFL teams over the past five seasons with one the league's best rushing duos in Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. But Hunt is set to become an unrestricted free agent this spring, and the Browns have a quarterback in Watson who led the NFL in passing yards in his last full season as a starter.

Kevin Stefanski is Matt Nagy.