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How Close Are The Cleveland Browns to Winning The Super Bowl?

By Zac Wassink

Nov 5, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson looks on from the sidelines in the second half against the Cleveland Browns at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals won 31-10. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 5, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson looks on from the sidelines in the second half against the Cleveland Browns at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals won 31-10. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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The goal of the Cleveland Browns should be to win a Super Bowl as soon as possible. Sadly, the Browns are not even close to achieving that mission.

The sad stats that hover over the Cleveland Browns get sadder with every failed season. Cleveland has not been able to celebrate a National Football League title or a professional sports championship in over 50 years. The Browns are in the middle of what is essentially a fourth regime change since the winter of 2011. Oh yeah. The Browns probably have the worst overall roster in all of the NFL.

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A myth that is commonly put out there by commentators and some hopeful fans is that a NFL franchise is but one season away from being a true contender. While it is valid that a club that has a losing record one year can compete in the postseason the next campaign, the reality of the NFL is that cornerstones of championship rosters are acquired years before that team is hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy in celebration.

The New Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Baltimore Ravens, New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts were all put in positions to succeed well before they won their Super Bowl championships. All of those clubs had the proper people in place at the two most important positions for any team: Head coach and quarterback.

It’s nice that supposed NFL experts from all over have had high praise for the Browns hiring Hue Jackson. Jackson is, as of this point of his career, a somewhat successful assistant who was eventually promoted to the offensive coordinator position of a Cincinnati Bengals team that had Andy Dalton at quarterback and A.J. Green at wide receiver.

There are more difficult jobs out there in the NFL.

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Jackson has what some would deem to be an impressive resume. Mike Pettine was said to be a great hire by some just two years ago. Jackson hasn’t experienced success as had Romeo Crennel before Crennel was hired by the Browns. Heck, you can’t even find the term “Super Bowl” on Jackson’s Wikipedia page.

History teaches us that first-time first-year head coaches don’t win the Super Bowl in the modern NFL. Gary Kubiak has only been the head man for the Denver Broncos a single season, but he had served as the head coach for the Houston Texans not that long ago. Bill Belichick learned hard lessons, some learned while with the Browns, before he became the coaching legend that he is today. Pete Carroll, John Harbaugh, Mike McCarthy, Tom Coughlin, Tony Dungy and Bill Cowher all failed on multiple occasions before winning the Super Bowl.

The quarterback portion of the Cleveland roster is downright depressing when compared with depth charts of Super Bowl teams. Josh McCown may be a great guy and also a solid mentor for younger QBs. McCown isn’t winning a Super Bowl, though, and he may not even be starting in Cleveland come next September. Johnny Manziel could be but a few weeks away from no longer being a member of the Browns. Austin Davis is, well, Austin Davis.

“But the guy on television said that Jared Goff could be the next Aaron Rodgers,” the optimistic Browns fan may retort. It doesn’t matter if it is Goff, Carson Wentz or any other rookie. Rookie QBs don’t win the Super Bowl. Russell Wilson and Tom Brady are examples of QBs who won the big won early into their careers, and both had a lot of help, particularly on the defensive side of the football, when they first won a Super Bowl.

Joe Flacco needed time to develop and the assistance of a late defensive stop before he could win a Super Bowl. Eli Manning was booed off of his home field four seasons into his career and three months before he won Super Bowl Most Valuable Player honors. Aaron Rodgers may, physically speaking, be the most talented QB in the history of the league, and he sat behind Brett Favre for years. Drew Brees was given up on well before he was named Super Bowl MVP.

One person who can serve as a glimmer of hope for long-suffering Cleveland fans is Cam Newton. It was only a few years ago when Newton was closer to (potentially) being traded by the Carolina Panthers than he was close to playing meaningful February football. Newton pouted during games. He was called out by teammates. Newton was very much so a project.

He is now the best QB in the game, a MVP and four quarters away from being a Super Bowl hero.

The Browns, of course, have other concerns outside of coaching and quarterback play. Cleveland’s best offensive play-maker is Josh Gordon, a wide receiver who hasn’t been a full-time NFL player in years and who hasn’t yet been reinstated. All-Pro center Alex Mack is probably gone. Joe Thomas isn’t getting any younger. The Browns have a pitiful pass rush, and the team is without a shutdown cornerback unless Joe Haden can find the form he had back in 2013.

When you break everything down, you could optimistically say that the Browns are roughly 3-4 years from being in a state where the team could win a Super Bowl if:

  1. Hue Jackson is the right man for the job.
  2. The Browns get the right quarterback and properly develop him.
  3. The Browns actually hit on multiple first-round picks.
  4. The Browns improve every portion of the team’s defense.
  5. The Browns get lucky: Examples such as Seattle not running the ball at the one-yard line, David Tyree catching the ball via his helmet, the refs gifting the Steelers multiple calls during a Super Bowl.

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The Browns are, per Jason Garcia of FOX Sports, 200-to-1 odds to win the Super Bowl next season. I’ll go one further. The 2016 Cleveland Browns are not winning the Super Bowl. Bookmark it. Print it and mail it to the team’s training facility in Berea. The best that Cleveland fans can hope for is that Jackson won’t be fired next January, and that the Browns will have built a foundation that can do something significant before the end of the decade.

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