I am not suggesting that the team lose intentionally.
I don't think we will have to try and lose.
There is so much roster movement year to year. Every year is a new season. Pressure is to win week to week.
Careers for the most part are short. Players staying with a team is rare.
Memories have to be short.
The Browns are in a bad place. You have to have a plan. I don't think the plan should be "we can patch the lineup and see how many games we can win."
That ends up being a path to nowhere.
Myles should be traded. Bitonio will retire soon. Ward, Njoku, Pocic, Teller, Conklin, Harris, Tomlinson They will all be gone in couple years.
We were banking that DW was going to be with us for ten years not fall off a cliff.
We have to adjust course because of the car wreck.
As usual, I find myself nodding my head in agreement when I read your posts...although it pains me to read you being not uber-optimistic. So many things have to fall in line and/or be great decisions for '25 in order for us to be a competitive team.
I don't see how even-average QB play makes this team competitive for the playoffs. Even if so, said average QB is not on the team right now and was not an average QB in '24. I have no confidence that this team knows how to identity a playoff-caliber QB. This is the first - and most-important - of many things that have to fall juuuuuust right for us.
The OL is either old or banged-up or not good...or all (3). The team needs to get this room shored up and without spending a ton of money...where spending like drunken sailors is the only thing they do consistently well. We are likely going back to what worked in '23...without the architect of that scheme who could make chicken salad out of chicken #$&^. I'd say we have (2) skilled players offensively that are worth keeping/worrying-about...(3) if you add super-human Chubb.
Our best defensive player wants out...our 2nd best DL is expensive and not-young...our 3rd best DL will be coming off an injury and has proven to be quite volatile off the field. No one else is worth worrying about.
Our best LB may never play again...our 2nd best is old and missed a lot with injury last year...our 3rd best is a UDFA. No one else is worth worrying about.
We have one very good but injury-prone DB...a good SS...No one else is worth worrying about.
Our long snapper missed the season with injury and our Kicker has the yips.
I just don't see a world where this team gets ALL of those things figured out while dealing with the cap and what to do with it's top player...maybe even top two players...whose ouster would destroy the cap.
Sometimes you just have to rip off the bandaid...the sad thing is that the cut that required the bandaid was self-inflicted...by the very same people charged with accomplishing that ^ feat.
