Can you say 7-10?

This will be a bridge season for the Browns, a.k.a. the Bridge to DeshaunWatson. It will not be enjoyable.

With Jacoby Brissett in charge of the offensive huddle for the first 11 games (assuming he remains healthy), bear in mind one very important thought: Brissett is as journeyman quarterback. And journeyman quarterbacks rarely do well.

The overall talent, for most part, is there on offense, but that's with expectations the offensive line and receiving corps overachieve. The quarterback will not be a difference maker. 

The defense, as it was the second half of last season, will be the Browns' only hope to return to the postseason. The offense, even though Watson will be back for the final six games, will need him to be perfect. Don't expect it. Not this season.

He's good, but not that good. It will be damn near impossible to shake off the rust he has accumulated over his nearly two-year absence from the game. His main contributions will arrive beginning next season.

The biggest enemy for head coach Kevin Stefanski will be the schedule. Not the first four games, three of which should produce victories. It's the next seven that will determine where they wind up. And whether Brissett can shed the journeyman tag and salvage the season.

It's a gauntlet that includes the Los Angeles Chargers, New England, division rivals Baltimore and Cincinnati, Miami, Buffalo and Tampa Bay, all but one with quarterbacks better than Cleveland's and legitimate shots at football in mid-to-late January.

The Browns cannot emerge with anything less than three victories to have anything resembling hope. That's not going to happen. The defense will not help them this season. It will be on fumes by the time Watson returns.

The consensus in the media, it seems, hovers on 9-8 and 8-9 territory record-wise after the season finale in Pittsburgh. The hopeful me says 8-9 at best. The pragmatic me, though, comes in at 7-10, Watson booking three of the victories with four of the final six games on the road.

Which gives birth to the notion Watson will be one of the leading contenders for National Football League Comeback Player of the Year next season.