What is going on in Cleveland? That’s the question many people have been asking themselves this offseason as the Browns have looked less like a football team and more like a dysfunctional family. Having only one playoff appearance in the past 12 years, it’s no secret that the Browns have been one of the most consistently bad teams in the NFL. Most teams in the league have their share of bad seasons, but they always manage to redeem themselves.
That hasn’t been the case lately for Cleveland, however. In recent memory, we’ve seen teams such as the Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers and others climb out of the pit of mediocrity and emerge as legitimate contenders. Do the Browns have a chance at becoming the next team to rise from the ashes and really fly?
In the 2012 offseason, the Browns were in the rebuilding process with new team owner Jimmy Haslam. Haslam, along with new CEO Joe Banner, had a team with a variety of talented players to build around, such as tackle Joe Thomas, center Alex Mack, cornerback Joe Haden, and safety T.J. Ward.
With two first round picks in the 2012 NFL Draft, they selected quarterback Brandon Weeden and running back Trent Richardson to give themselves a very potent offense. Led by head coach Pat Shurmur, the Browns finished 2012 with a 5-11 record, once again finishing dead last in the AFC North. With a bad season behind them, it seemed the Browns couldn’t go anywhere but up, but they would only fall farther before they’d even slightly improve in 2013.
In the 2013 offseason, the Browns again did some shuffling of their personnel, starting with the firing of Pat Shurmur and general manager Tom Heckert. The Browns next move was to hire former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski to be their new head coach, and shortly after that they would hire Michael Lombardi to assume the role of the team’s general manager. After losing the first two games of the 2013 season, the Browns traded their star running back Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for a 2014 1st round pick. Once again, the Browns finished dead last in the AFC North with a 4-12 record, capped off by losses in 10 of their last 11 games.
After just one very lackluster season, head coach Rob Chudzinski was let go once the 2013 season came to a close. He was replaced by Buffalo Bills head coach Mike Pettine, who brought along with him Bills linebackers coach Jim O’Neil to serve as defensive coordinator.
On February 3rd 2014, the offensive coordinator job was given to Kyle Shanahan after the Browns lost out on their bid for the services of Gary Kubiak, who is now the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator. On February 11th, the Browns fired Michael Lombardi after serving just one year as the general manager and replaced him with assistant general manager Ray Farmer.
If there’s one thing that makes a team successful in the NFL, it’s stability. Teams like the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers amongst others have shown that if you stick to a plan and follow it through, success will come in waves. The Browns consistent commitment to changing up their front office season after season is clearly getting them nowhere. If they want to climb their way up the totem pole, they have to stick to a consistent team of leaders.
With two first-round picks and five picks in the first three rounds of this year’s NFL Draft, along with an abundance of money to spend on free agents, they certainly are in a great position to make their team competitive too. Will the Browns finally show up as a relevant team in the NFL? It’s all up to the men that Jimmy Haslam has assigned the task of running the team. Perhaps 2014 will be the year the Browns get something going…or maybe it will be another year of disappointment and frustration.