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Cleveland Browns Need to Blow It All Up

By Zac Wassink

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This is as bad as the Cleveland Browns have been since returning to the National Football League in 1999.

“But the Browns had Pro Bowl talent on the roster,” you might say. “One of those guys will be going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame ten years from now” could be an argument against the main point of this piece.

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The following is what that “talent” has gotten Cleveland Browns fans over the past decade:

Zero, count ’em, zero playoff victories.

Zero stability in the front office.

Zero stability on the sidelines.

Oh yeah, it also got the Browns a 3-13 record for the 2015-16 NFL season, an embarrassing mark that is easy to forget because local Cleveland immediately is obsessed with second-year quarterback Johnny Manziel to the point that they are literally camping outside of his home these days.

There was at least some hope for the expansion Browns, even if those who followed the team at that time were lying to themselves about how bad things would go that first year. Those Browns, it would turn out, were several seasons away from making a postseason appearance, one that ended in disaster and a choke-job for the ages versus hated rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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Cleveland fans would pay good money to watch such a collapse these days.

The Browns have one thing going for them as it pertains to the future, and that is a youth movement that has admittedly not produced positive results. Say what you will about Manziel, Justin Gilbert, Danny Shelton, Cameron Erving, Isaiah Crowell, Duke Johnson and many others. The majority of the players on the roster of the Browns have theoretically not hit their physical primes.

That brings us to the crux of the matter. The Browns need a complete reset, like what happens when you delete your Madden franchise mode because you get so fed up with the fact that none of your trades are working out and your first-round quarterback had his career ended before he turned 23-years-old.

That process has already begun in Berea. Cleveland general manager Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine were booted out the door before the final game of the regular season had kicked off. All-Pro center Alex Mack could not drive out of town fast enough after playing his final game with the team. Left tackle Joe Thomas, who already has a spot secured for himself in Canton, could request a trade during the offseason.

Bye guys. Don’t let the door hit you. In fact, why don’t you take some others with you?

Mack controls his Cleveland destiny. There is nothing the Browns can do about that now. The Browns do, however, have options when it comes to players such as Thomas and Joe Haden. Both Thomas and Haden have several years remaining on their current contracts. Both have multiple good playing years ahead of them so long as they are healthy.

Both need to be traded in March.

The harsh reality of the situation is that the Browns are several years away from maybe being an actual contender. Yes, the NFL is the ultimate “worst to first” league, but let’s not kid ourselves. Even if the Browns are able to backdoor their way into the playoffs a year from now, Cleveland isn’t hanging with the likes of the New England Patriots, Denver Broncos or Pittsburgh Steelers anytime soon.

Thomas and Haden are beloved by Cleveland fans. Both have been loyal soldiers to a franchise that hasn’t deserved them. Both are respected members of the local community. Both have represented the Browns in Pro Bowl games.

They share another trait: They are both losers. Losing is all they’ve done while with the Browns. Thomas was part of a single winning team all the way back in 2007, his rookie season. Haden, who was reduced to tears after giving up a game-winning touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars in December 2013, cannot even make that claim.

The time to trade Thomas, who turned 31-years old, was last season. Cleveland knew this, and thus they (allegedly) tried to deal Thomas to the Broncos before the trade deadline. Haden is coming off a year when he was out of action because of injury the majority of the time and when he seemed to have depreciating skills when he was on the field.

Haden was also supposed to serve as a mentor for Manziel, Gilbert and other young Cleveland players. That’s a different story for a different post.

Say, pessimistically, that the Browns could land a first- and second-round pick in trading Thomas and Haden. Those are moves the Browns should make without flinching. Such hypothetical deals should also only be the beginning.

Trade Karlos Dansby, 34-years-old, for some young middle linebacker who is struggling to find playing time elsewhere. Exchange punter Andy Lee, 33-years-old, for a late draft pick. Let Josh McCown stick around because Manziel can’t be trusted, Manziel and McCown have a good relationship, and somebody is going to have to play quarterback until either Manziel or a QB to be drafted is adequately prepared.

There is no way to put lipstick on the pig that is the state of the Browns. This process will, bluntly put, suck for fans and for those who have already spent money on tickets. Apologies to those loyal customers, but it’s what needs to be done.

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Not a single player on the Browns is worth keeping if the right deal comes along. That is where the club is at following yet another awful season. The first step in having any real shot at righting the ship is giving a new front office and new coaching staff a blank canvas of raw talent and draft selections. To put it another way: The Browns need to become a makeshift version of an expansion team.

Tom Coughlin has experience working with those types of teams, and he is available. Step two would be to give Coughlin a call.

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