Haslam mostly hedges

So how do you sell the media on your perennially underachieving National Football League team as a brand new season unfurls within the next couple of months?

Well, if you're James Arthur Haslam III and it's the 13th time the billionaire owner of the Browns steps forward from a public relations standpoint to take another stab at predicting the future, you hedge ever so slightly.

For the major part of his 12-season stewardship of his often-times dysfunctional franchise, this beginning-of-training camp exercise with the media arrives following yet another dismal and disappointing campaign. 

This time, though, it appears as if the Southern gentleman is trying his best to pump the brakes a bit,  temper the growing optimism that this edition of the Browns actually has the pedigree of a more than just a competitive team.

This roster is loaded in all three phases of the game courtesy of General Manager Andrew Berry, who upgraded two coordinator positions in the process. It produced a league-high $303 million in contracts for the current 90-man roster. 

This is the time during the NFL year when optimism reigns supreme. When all 32 teams, realistically or otherwise, weave the next Super Bowl into conversations. Having been burned numerous times in his tenure as the boss, Haslam for the most part appears to take a much more realistic look at 2023.

It's year four of the Berry/Kevin Stefanski regime, the last two seasons resulting in unforeseen circumstances that resulted in achingly frustrating campaigns that were badly mishandled. I won't get into the specifics. Just know they could have been avoided.

Haslam declined to make outright predictions while heaping praise on his front office of Berry, Stefanski and Chief Strategy Officer (whatever that means) Paul DePodesta. "Do I think (they) have done a great job?" he said. "We (presumably Haslam and his wife, Dee), do. Are we excited about them this year? Yes."

Now what else did anyone expect him to say? Gotta please the constituency, ya know. Then he qualified his stance. "To say now or never I think would be grossly unfair," he said, "but we're excited about this year."

But one (yep, me) got the impression this season had better wind up in the playoff column or else changes will be made. Speculation at the end of last season led to the notion Stefanski's seat had become quite hot.

Not so, the owner said. "It was an easy decision," he revealed. "There was never a thought to not bringing Kevin back. I think he's a good coach. (Really? He's 15-19 the last two seasons.) We like him." Wondering whether that relationship will remain the same if the Browns fail for the third straight season to qualify for the postseason.

Haslam's optimism is undoubtedly based on Deshaun Watson having the offensive huddle for the entire season after sitting out the first 11 games last season. Early camp indications are Watson once again looks like the Pro Bowl quarterback who compiled sensational numbers with the Houston Texans a few years ago.

As for the Browns and Super Bowl appearing in the same conversation, Haslam took his foot off the brakes just long enough to pronounce himself "highly confident" Stefanski, along with new coordinators (Jim Schwartz for the defense and Bubba Ventrone for special teams) is the right man to take the Browns to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas next Feb, 11.

"I really do (believe that)," he added. "I don't want to be negative toward (the new coordinators') predecessors, but I think Jim Schwartz and Bubba Ventrone are going to be big for us." That's sort of being negative toward Joe Woods and Mike Priefer. But they deserve it.

Optimistic talk like that, though, is going to reverberate around Browns Nation for at least the minefield that is the first four games of the regular season, the results of which will determine whether Haslam's opening remarks to the media before the 2024 training camp commences were spot on.

Yep, he went a little too far. You think Stefanski might want to give some thought to updating his résumé just in case?

Hard to be optimistic

Numerous facts tell the story of the 2023 Cleveland Browns. They all lead to a false sense of security.

On paper, this is more than just a good National Football League team. Or a very good football team. The talent quotient strongly suggests Browns Nation will be rewarded handsomely this season. But paper does not win games. That has been proven ad infinitum by this franchise since 1999. 

That's why red flags dominate my thoughts. Something always seems to go wrong with this franchise within the course of a 17-game season. Until that stops, it leads me to believe it won't be any different this season. Can't put my finger on it. Just know it's there and will show up when least expected.

It happened again and again last season, for example, when the Browns astonishingly turned three victories into losses en route to a 7-10 record and a return to the AFC North basement. Jacoby Brissett's 4-7 record keeping the job warm for Deshaun Watson should have been 7-4 with any help from the defense.

At the risk of sounding like a typical rabid Browns fan whose hopes for success vanish way too early in just about every season since 1999, it's difficult to be sanguine of what lies ahead this season in spite of all the optimism.

General Manager Andrew Berry has ostensibly fixed that nagging problem on defense during a busy and presumably productive offseason. It doesn't count, however, until and unless it translates to the playing field. Therein lies the lack of optimism. 

Talent is one thing. The ability to make plays when making them means the difference between winning and losing a game is quite another. All great teams have playmakers. We'll find out soon enough -- in the first four games of the season -- whether the Browns can join their ranks.

If Berry is as successful this season with his roster massaging as he was in 2020, when he put together one of the NFL's most dangerous offenses that came thisclose to getting to the AFC championship game, a return to the postseason cannot be removed from the list of possibilities.

By the time cutdown day (Aug. 29) rolls around and Berry trims his now-bulging 90-man roster to the required 53, the Browns will be in a better place from a depth standpoint in every facet of the game than at any time since he and head coach Kevin Stefanski arrived in 2020.

The defensive line is decidedly stronger with an emphasis on making opposing quarterbacks feel  extremely uncomfortable in the pocket. And it certainly can't get any worse against the run than the woefully inept unit last season.

What tends to challenge my pessimistic outlook for 2023 is the aggression defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz brings to the table. The it's-about-time return of man-to-man coverage in the secondary is slowly and persuasively tempering some of that thinking.

The biggest concern will be the role of the linebackers in what likely will be a 4-2-5 base. How will Schwartz utilize Anthony Walker Jr., Sione Takitaki and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah all coming off major surgery? Each is more effective when turned loose.

If the new DC is philosophically consistent, look for aggressiveness to stretch throughout the entire defense this season. Over the years, the Cleveland offense has not often enough been afforded short fields caused by takeaways. Another optimistic sign.

Turning to the other side of the football, as Watson goes, so will go the offense. It's really that simple. He needs be the Pro Bowl quarterback they traded a king's ransom for. Berry has set him up nicely with a splendid wide receivers room.

At the same time, though, let's not forget about the black cloud that has hovered over this franchise since the return. Yep, had to mention that. Last season was another emotionally painful reminder. The frustration needs to end.

The regular season begins in 50 days. 

Won't be long

Thoughts as the opening of the Browns' 2023 pre-season training camp looms . . . 

When it comes to the newest edition of this team, there are enough absolutes to strongly suggest General Manager Andrew Berry has assembled a championship-level roster. With precious few exceptions, this team is ready to do more than just compete. It is ready to win. A lot.

Yes, I know that notion has been proffered every season since Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski arrived in 2020, but it has produced just one post-season appearance. Highly questionable overall coaching resulted in two huge disappointments.

Something is different this time. And that's where the absolutes enter the picture.

The most important addition to the club, by far, is defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. Key roster additions were mere window dressing. Schwartz will bring them alive with the kind of defense fans have longed for since the return in 1999. 

Last season, that mistake-prone defense cost the Browns at least three victories. Schwartz's defenses rarely make the kinds of mistakes that essentially torpedoed the last two seasons. It will be unrecognizable this season.

Sacks and turnovers will rise. Shorter fields will be handed to an offense that now boasts a wide receivers room that can arguably be called one of the best in the league after fielding one of the worst last season. It's the best since the Bernie Kosar era with Webster Slaughter, Brian Brennan and Reggie Langhorne.

With all that overall talent, consider this a no-excuse season for the front office. Anything less that a return to the postseason will be considered an abject failure and a lot of people will be cashiered, including most of the front office.

There is just so much failure Jimmy and Dee Haslam will put up with. The fact Berry and Stefanski are still around is somewhat of a surprise since the owners are well known for their quick hooks. They are basically on probation.

Considering three of the first four games this season are against division opponents, two of them at home, we'll know soon enough the direction the Browns head. It's almost as though the league's schedule maker after being told the Browns are definitely better this season, said, "OK, let's see early on what they've got." 

The no-excuses theme extends to quarterback Deshaun Watson, whose patently awful six-game sneak preview of this season did not resonate well with Browns Nation last season. It seemed like a total disconnect between Stefanski and his quarterback.

Serving an 11-game suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy, and playing for the first time in 700 days all but wrecked his reputation of playing well enough to be named to the Pro Bowl twice  with the Houston Texans.

Right now, no one knows what to expect from Watson. He sure looked good, confident in 7-on-7 drills during the recent minicamp. But that was with no pressure and pre-scripted plays. 

Motivation this season can come from how he fared in a recent ESPN poll of coaches, scouts and executives determining the league's top 10 quarterbacks heading into this season. Watson, despite previous  accomplishments with Houston, was saddled with an honorable mention.

Team strengths: An aggressive defensive boss; vastly improved pass rush; a sound ground game with Nick Chubb, who will be the club's ground attack; stronger off the bench along the offensive line, secondary and at wide receiver; looking for a comeback season from kicker Cade York.

Team weaknesses: Offensive left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. has been a colossal failure; a head coach who should be a head coach only and not a playcaller; questionable production at linebacker; a worrisome falloff of talent at running back; questionable whether the run defense is improved.

Wild predictions (non-record type): Stefanski is gone if the Browns are 1-3 after the rugged beginning and Schwartz is named at least interim if not the new boss; Watson regains his Houston form, looking nothing like last season; Elijah Moore leads the team in pass receptions and yardage; Chubb misses at least two games with injuries; rookie Dawand Jones replaces Wills at left tackle early; Myles Garrett and Za'Darius Smith combine for 32 sacks (equalling the team total last season), 12 of the strip-sack variety; veterans Anthony Schwartz, Tommy Togiai, Jordan Elliott and Jason Phillips will not make the final 53.