Month: July 2026

Browns rookies report tomorrow and veterans report Tuesday July 28. Finally, we can talk about real (sort of) football. No more articles about people writing about people writing about the Browns. Now the local and national media can focus on Sheduer Sander’s short film posted on social media about how he’s independent of social media. Untwist that pretzel. My head hurts. Next up will be the short highlights of Sanders throwing and running in games. Just one favor, can we stop posting the long throw to Isaiah Bond against the Bears. After that pass the team managed a field goal for their only points in the game, they lost 31-3. The videos I want to see are the team videos of the players entering the building in Berea. That tells me it’s time.

The Browns, especially GM Andrew Berry, still have some work to do, mostly with defensive team depth. I’ve made my requests for another defensive end, linebacker and slot corner known. Also, it would be nice for Andrew Berry to extend Grant Delpit and Ronnie Hickman. The team and the player representatives are talking. The one thing I’m sure of is Denzel Ward’s contract will be extended. The Browns already redid his $2.5 million signing bonus and Ward wants to retire a Browns, so with some number juggling, the Browns can redo his deal and save the team an additional $12 million. Currently the Browns are a little over $16 million under the cap. A new deal for ward would push that to over $28 million under the cap. That’s enough money for Hickman, Delpit and some depth players.

Two things the pundits will hammer this pre-season will be the quarterback position and the defense. I have faith head coach Todd Monken will pick the right quarterback to get the team the most wins. That’s his job, win as many games as possible. There’s no agenda for a guy who just got hired as a head coach in the NFL and because of his age, this will be his only shot at an NFL head coaching job. He’ll hopefully fix the offense because having a good to average offense helps the defense. As for the defense, I think they can be just as good as last year even without Myles Garrett. Jared Verse may not have a ton of sacks his first two years in the league, but he does have a ton of pressures, (189 in two years) and pressures are more important than sacks. Garrett admitted he wouldn’t have broken the sack record if it wasn’t for the pressure provided by DT Mason Graham. The one thing that’s very important for the success of this defense is the play of the secondary. Find the best slot corner you can so Tyson Campbell and Ward can do their thing on the outside. The Browns will play three safeties to not only help the run defense, but to also cover tight ends and to provide pressure (there’s that word again) on opposing quarterbacks.

The pre-season is finally here. Just remember when listening or reading anything about the Browns ask yourself if it sounds logical. The Browns front office does not leak information. Don’t let someone’s personal opinion confuse you into thinking it’s inside sources, because there are no inside sources. Stay safe and Go Browns.

And I like it that way. Of course, as we wait till training camp begins, the attention getters are putting out their normal “Browns Stink” content. Bleacher Report has added to their pile of stuff with a pre-training camp power ranking. You’ll never guess where the Browns were placed, at number 30. Bleacher Report feels the Dolphins (32) and the Cardinals (31) are worse. Sitting at 29 they have the Jets, at 28 the Titans, at 27 the Giants and 26 the Falcons. The reasoning for the Browns at 30 was the unsettled QB situation, the defense will regress because of no Myles Garrett and a new head coach. They do admit the Browns will be fun to watch in 2026 because of the young talent on the team. I agree on the QB situation. The Browns need Sheduer Sanders to step up and become the quarterback all his fans think he is. I’ll settle for above average. If he is the starter and wins more than seven games, the Browns won’t have to waste their draft capital on a first-round QB in the 2027 draft. Drafting a QB in the first round is always an uncertainty.

I personally think the defense has the potential to become better or at least just as good. Teams no longer have to gameplan one player, Garrett. In 2025 we saw both ends to the spectrum in how teams handled Garrett. The Titans ran away from Garrett and won, while the Steelers avoided Garrett and lost. As long as the secondary does what they’re capable of doing and the defensive line provides pressure, the defense will be fine. As for Todd Monken, He’s won with quarterbacks with different styles of play. If the young talent on the team develops like some experts think they can develop, then they will be fun to watch and possibly win seven or more games. I’m not saying they could make the playoffs, but watching a fun offense would be a nice change of pace compared to the last two years. On average there are usually five teams who make the playoffs one year after failing to do so the previous year. On paper the Browns have the easiest schedule in the league for 2026 and if you look at the teams mentioned above, Cleveland plays four of them.

Most betting services have the Browns picking in the top five in 2027. One, Tankathon, has the Browns selecting Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith. Smith is the ultimate offensive weapon, but if the Browns are in the top five, they’re taking a QB. It’s only logical, if the team is that bad, it’s more than likely it’s because of the QB play. Tankathon has the Browns selecting at four, with three quarterbacks being selected in the first three picks. The Dolphins select first and take Arch Manning; the Cardinals select second and take Donte Moore and the Jets select third and take Julian Sayin. Still on the board were C.J Carr and Darian Mensah. Interestingly Tankathon has the Steelers picking Carr at ten and the Vikings picking Mensah at thirteen. They do have the Browns using the 32 pick for a QB, Drew Mestemaker from Oklahoma State. So six quarterbacks in the first round. We’ll see how NIL money in college changes the 2027 draft when it comes to quarterbacks. Kids today can make some serious cash and gain valuable experience while staying in college. Stay safe and Go Browns.

Not a lot of Browns news as the team heads for training camp. There are a ton of lists, because that’s what generates social media clicks this time of year. Lists like ranking uniforms or rosters or overpaid players. None of these lists does a thing for me, but NFL fans eat them up. Of course, the Browns list near the bottom of every ranking. Just a spoiler alert, when the next power ranking emerges, the Browns will be near the bottom. I understand the reasoning; Cleveland only won five games last year while playing three different quarterbacks, one who should have retired by now and two rookie draft picks. To add to this, the quarterback room hasn’t really improved this off-season. Browns GM Andrew Berry did improve areas of the team that sucked last year, the wide receiver room and the offensive line room. He also found a group of players who are very good special team players. But still, Las Vegas still has the Browns picking third in the 2027 draft.

One item that caught my attention yesterday was a report by Pro Football Talk that tried to suggest the Browns received $88 million in cap savings due to injury insurance for QB Deshaun Watson. Sorry Browns fans it’s fake news. According to Over The Cap’s response to this fabricated report, Pro Football Talk apparently added the wrong numbers together. Troy at Over The Cap explained it like this,” Where the contract says the cost went from X to Y. They appear to have added all the Y’s together (the new cost), rather than the difference each time.” Jack Duffin, who’s expertise on the NFL salary cap is unmatched, has previously reported the injury settlement already paid was a little over $1 million in 2023 and about $4.8 million in 2024. As for 2025, no one knows but I’ve seen speculation the cap credit could be anywhere between $15 to $25 million. As I’ve said many times, any insurance credit for Watson’s injuries would be credited the following year. So to recap, the Browns have received total cap credits for Watson’s injuries are around $6 million for 2023 & 2024. We’ll never find out the credit for 2025, because injury insurance is covered by HIPAA rules. Steeler fan Mike Florio strikes again.

Just remember, a team may insure a certain amount of money, but that does not mean the team receives that amount of money due to an injury to that player. Finally, ESPN Cleveland has all but admitted they know nothing about the salary cap and how it works, so why listen to their salary cap analysis? Stay safe and Go Browns.