Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns aren't worried about Colorado head coach Deion Sanders preventing his son, Shedeur, from playing for the AFC North team should it choose the former Buffaloes quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

"I don't anticipate that being a problem," Browns general manager Andrew Berry said, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

It was a question because of comments Deion Sanders made earlier this month during an appearance on the Tamron Hall Show (h/t Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today).

"It's not like that," Sanders said when asked if he told his sons who he wants them to play for at the next level. "It's not like who I would like for him to play for. It's a couple of teams that I won't allow him to play for. So it's not like that. But this is my profession. I know what's behind the curtain. We ain't got to get back there for me to understand what's behind the curtain and what's not prominent for my son. I'm not doing it."

Cleveland would be a logical destination for Sanders.

After all, it is coming off a 3-14 season with no long-term answer at the quarterback position. The Deshaun Watson addition has been abysmal to say the least, and he may not be available for the 2025 season after tearing his Achilles for a second time.

That leaves more questions than answers, and it's no surprise the Browns were one of the teams to meet with Sanders at the East-West Shrine Bowl.

"Shedeur is a really impressive young man," Berry said. "He's poised, he's calm, he's smart and you can tell that he's been raised by—quite honestly—a Hall of Fame dad. We're going to get to know him even more over the course of the spring, but he's really impressive."

Earlier this month, B/R's NFL Scouting Department ranked Sanders as the second-best quarterback in this draft behind only Miami's Cam Ward. However, it projected the Tennessee Titans to take Sanders and the Browns to end up with Ward in its latest mock draft.

The Sanders situation will be worth monitoring ahead of the draft, especially as he begins to solidify himself as a potential top pick. That his father just so happens to be a Hall of Famer who turned heads with comments suggesting he could prevent the signal-caller from playing somewhere only adds another layer.

That is especially true with the Browns given past comments from Deion Sanders:

Still, that social-media post was from nearly seven years ago when the Cleveland front office looked quite different. Berry had nothing but positive things to say about both of the Sanders, and the AFC North team will surely continue to evaluate the situation as the draft approaches.

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry told three beat reporters at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama that the team won't be trading superstar edge-rusher Myles Garrett, even if an offer includes two first-round picks.

Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com was among those who relayed Berry's comments. In addition, Berry said that the team wants him to be a Brown for life, per Zac Jackson of The Athletic.

"We always have a really good and direct two-way communication with our players (and) we feel really good about Myles, obviously, as a big piece of our future," Berry said. "We're looking forward to him being on the field. Like I said in my (early January) press conference, we envision him going from Cleveland to Canton when his career is over."

Garrett's current five-year, $125 million deal expires after the 2026 season.

It's easy to see why the Browns want Garrett, a surefire future Pro Football Hall of Famer, around before he makes his way to Canton.

In eight seasons, Garrett has amassed 102.5 sacks. He's remained on fire in 2024, finishing with a league-high 22 tackles for a loss. He also had 14 sacks and has reached that mark each season from 2021-2024.

The four-time First Team All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowler has met the hype and then some for the Browns, who selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft.

The big problem is whether Garrett would want to stick around Cleveland. The 3-14 Browns look far away from competing for a championship, especially with major question marks at the quarterback position given Deshaun Watson's ineffectiveness coupled with a torn Achilles injury.

And nearing the end of 2024, Garrett made it clear that he wants to be competing and playing in the postseason.

That might be hard to do in Cleveland unless the Browns hit big on their next quarterback and finally get some stability at the position. Playing in the difficult AFC North doesn't help matters either.

At any rate, it's clear the Browns want him back, and Jackson reported that Garrett "probably is headed for a mega-extension to make him the highest paid non-QB in NFL history." It's well-deserved given his consistency and production, but it's also on Cleveland to finally build a consistent winner around him too.

The Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and New York Giants seem to have a vested interest in keeping former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders off the field in Frisco, Texas, over the next week.

The teams with top-three selections in the upcoming draft reportedly asked Sanders to sit out practice at the East-West Shrine Bowl, according to Yahoo Sports' Charles McDonald.

ESPN's Turron Davenport reported earlier Saturday that Sanders was attending the Shrine Bowl, but would not participate after meeting with the Titans, Browns and Giants on Friday.

According to McDonald, Sanders was "planning to play up until yesterday," when he met with executives. ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi reported Sanders has already talked to all three teams.

The Titans will select first, followed by the Browns and Giants, when the NFL Draft takes place in Green Bay this April.

According to Davenport, Titans coach Brian Callahan praised Sanders after the meeting.

"He's really poised and had [a] mature way about him. You can tell he's been in the spotlight and knows how to handle it," Callahan told Davenport.

Sanders was also seen interacting with Giants leadership, including head coach Brian Daboll, general manager Joe Schoen and assistant general manager Brandon Brown on Saturday (h/t DNVR Buffs and CBS Sports' Garrett Podell.)

Sanders said he had enjoyed meeting with teams in person when speaking to reporters on Saturday (h/t TennesseeTitans.com's Jim Wyatt.)

"I like that I'm able to get in the forefront of everything, and they're able to understand me, and ask me whatever question they want," Sanders said. "I ain't ducking, I ain't hiding. I'm right here, live and in the flesh, able to answer whatever questions is out there."

Sanders added, per Podell: "I just know I'm going to change a franchise and be happy to be the leader of a team."

The Titans, Browns and Giants could all decide to target a quarterback this srping after their struggles at the position in 2024.

If they do, Sanders and former Miami quarterback Cam Ward currently seem like the most likely candidates to hear their names called at the top of the upcoming draft.

The East-West Shrine Bowl is set to take place without Sanders next Thursday in Arlington, Texas.

Other participating Colorado players, including Sanders' brother Shilo Sanders as well as Will Sheppard, LaJohntay Wester, Jimmy Horn Jr. and Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig (h/t Davenport), will hope to boost their draft stock by participating in the showcase.

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski announced Thursday that he will be the team's offensive play-caller in 2025.

Stefanski also announced the promotion of Tommy Rees from pass game specialist and tight ends coach to offensive coordinator.

While Stefanski began 2024 as the Browns' offensive play-caller, he ceded those duties to then-OC Ken Dorsey in late October. However, Dorsey was fired earlier this month after the Browns finished tied for the NFL's worst record at 3-14.

Stefanski, 42, has been the Browns' head coach since 2020, and while he has taken them to the playoffs twice and earned a pair of NFL Coach of the Year Awards, he has a cumulative record of just 40-44.

Hopes were high for the Browns in 2024, coming off an 11-6 record and a playoff appearance the previous season, but the wheels fell off due largely to issues at the quarterback position.

The Browns had four different starting quarterbacks in Deshaun Watson, Jameis Winston, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Bailey Zappe, and they combined to complete 59.8 percent of their passing attempts for 3,506 yards, 19 touchdowns and 23 interceptions.

Unlike in previous years under Stefanski, the Browns didn't have much of a running game either, as Nick Chubb rushed for just 332 yards and three touchdowns in eight games, while averaging only 3.3 yards per carry coming off a torn ACL.

Cleveland had the 29th-ranked running game in the NFL, and it threw the most interceptions, which is never a winning formula.

The success of the Browns' offense in 2025 could come down to the quarterback situation, which is very much in a state of flux right now.

Watson's 2024 season ended after seven games due to a torn Achilles, and it was announced two weeks ago that he tore it again, which required an additional surgery.

That means Watson may not be available for the entire 2025 season, leaving Thompson-Robinson as the only healthy quarterback under contract for next season.

Given that they own the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, the Browns could select their quarterback of the future by taking either Miami's Cam Ward or Colorado's Shedeur Sanders.

They could also explore the free-agent market, which figures to be headlined by Sam Darnold, who is coming off a career year with the Minnesota Vikings.

Veteran Russell Wilson is also in line to be a free agent, and he could be joined by Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers if their respective teams release them.

Whoever is chosen to be the Browns' starting quarterback in 2025 will have their work cut out for them, as Cleveland ranked 28th in total offense and 32nd in scoring offense in 2024.

It will be up to Stefanski to install a more effective offense next season, although he said Thursday that he reserves the right to change his mind with regard to being the offensive play-caller.

Rees has only been in the NFL since the start of this season and has never been a play-caller at that level, but he had success collegiately as the OC at Notre Dame and Alabama, which suggests the 32-year-old may have a bright future as an NFL play-caller.

The city of Cleveland has filed a lawsuit against the Browns over the team's proposed move to a new stadium in the Brook Park suburb.

In the lawsuit filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court (h/t Michelle Jarboe of Cleveland.com), lawyers for the city are seeking to invoke the "Modell law" that states a sports team owner that uses a tax-supported facility for home games and receives funding from the state or a political subdivision can't move unless it gives a notice of at least six months or receives permission from local government officials to do so.

The Browns announced in October they informed Cleveland officials of their plan to move forward with a new domed stadium in Brook Park after the city previously proposed a $1.2 billion renovation project for Huntington Bank Field.

Cost for the new project is estimated at $2.4 billion, with the Browns citing Brook Park as the "most compelling option" for a new stadium because of its central location for the regional fanbase, proximity to downtown and existing infrastructure.

On Jan. 2, Browns officials announced they executed a clause that gave them the option to buy 176 acres of land in Brook Park for the new stadium.

In the lawsuit, Cleveland's lawyers noted the Modell law applies to the Browns and Haslam Sports Group, and the city has already invested roughly $368 million into renovations and repairs to Huntington Bank Field that are still being subsidized by taxpayers.

The state of Ohio enacted the Modell law in June 1996, three months after the Browns were "deactivated" when Art Modell moved the franchise to Baltimore.

Jarboe noted the Modell law has never been fully tested since it went into law. The closest it came was in 2018 when the city of Columbus invoked it in a lawsuit after the owners of the Columbus Crew were threatening to move the MLS club to Texas.

The lawsuit was still pending when the Haslam family reached agreement to purchase the Crew in December 2018 to keep the team in Columbus.

According to Jarboe, Alan Weinstein, a professor emeritus of law and urban studies at Cleveland State University, said in a local news interview last year the Modell law is a "toothless tiger."

The Browns' current lease with Huntington Bank Field runs through the 2028 season. If the team is approved for a new stadium, the goal would be to have it ready for the start of the 2029 campaign.

The atmosphere in the Cleveland Browns' locker room became more positive after Deshaun Watson tore his Achilles tendon on Oct. 20 and stopped playing, according to The Athletic's Jason Lloyd.

"Players told me there was a constant heaviness surrounding Watson in the locker room and that they felt a different energy in the building upon his departure," Lloyd wrote.

Lloyd added: "A couple of veterans told me it felt like a cloud had been lifted."

According to Lloyd, Watson's mistakes through the first seven games of the season— including not passing to open receivers— were visible on game film, but not pointed out by head coach Kevin Stefanski.

That frustrated "at least a few veterans who believed Stefanski wouldn't criticize Watson in front of the team," Lloyd wrote.

According to these players, Stefanski "returned to pointing out the quarterback's mistakes in film sessions" once Jameis Winston had taken over for Watson in Week 8.

The Browns announced Friday that Watson had undergone a second surgery after re-rupturing his injured Achilles tendon. He could miss the entirety of the 2025 season, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Jameis Winston is set to hit free agency this offseason, and the Browns could decide to target a quarterback with their No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft.

The 2024 season was tumultuous for Watson even before Week 1. The quarterback was rehabbing from the throwing shoulder injury that led him to miss the last nine games of the 2023 regular season. He lost both his father and his college teammate and friend just before the start of the 2024 season.

In October, he settled a civil lawsuit filed by a woman claiming sexual assault and battery, which was the latest of at least 20 settlements the quarterback has reached since his playing career with the Houston Texans.

The Browns went 1-6 to start the season behind Watson. He had passed for 1,148 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions prior to his injury in Week 7.

Since signing his five-year, $230 million contract with the Browns in 2022, injuries and an 11-game suspension from the league have limited Watson to playing just 19 games in Cleveland. He has thrown for 3,365 yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while not appearing in a playoff game over that span.

The Browns recently restructured Watson's contract in a move that will allow them to push his guaranteed money out into more void years. The $92 million in base salary remaining on his deal is still fully guaranteed, so Watson will continue to impact how the Browns build their team going forward even if he never plays another game in Cleveland.

Cleveland will now look to improve the mood around the team by reshaping their coaching staff next season. Stefanski is set to return, but offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and offensive line coach Andy Dickerson were let go immediately following the 3-14 campaign.

According to Lloyd, players believe former offensive line coach Bill Callahan left ahead of the 2024 season at least in because the team fired offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Now that their replacements heading out after a single season, the Browns will hope to find long-term leaders on offense along with a long-term QB1 this offseason.

The Cleveland Browns are promoting Tommy Rees to replace Ken Dorsey as their offensive coordinator, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

Rees joined Cleveland's staff as the passing game specialist and tight ends coach ahead of the 2024 NFL season. Before that, he was an offensive coordinator at Notre Dame and Alabama.

Cleveland made the change at offensive coordinator after it ranked last in points (15.2) and 28th in yards (300.8) per game.

Not all of that is on Dorsey because quarterback Deshaun Watson might be past the point of salvaging. The three-time Pro Bowler threw for 1,148 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions in seven starts.

Running back Nick Chubb also missed nine games and averaged a career-low 3.3 yards per carry.

Still, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Daniel Oyefusi laid out how Dorsey was an imperfect fit for Kevin Stefanski's offense. His presence had been questioned by some within the organization from the moment he arrived.

Unlike Dorsey, Rees won't be burdened with trying to make Watson a franchise QB again. The 29-year-old tore his right Achilles for a second time, which jeopardizes his availability for the 2025 season.

The Athletic's Dianna Russini also reported on Jan. 7 that the Browns "have always planned on going for a quarterback in the upcoming draft," so the new Achilles injury may not have changed much. With the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NFL draft, Cleveland can pivot to a new long-term plan at QB.

Assuming that's the plan, setting up a rookie signal-caller to succeed will be one of Rees' top objectives. His experience playing and coaching in college should be an asset in that regard because he'll be able to connect and communicate with a first-year star coming into the league.

The biggest downside for Rees is that he could find himself out of a job in relatively short order.

Stefanski may not be able to survive another season in which Cleveland falls so short of expectations. Were the Browns to fire him, his replacement would probably bring in his own top assistants.

The setback Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered on his previously injured Achilles turned out to be a new tear that required surgery.

The team announced on Friday that Watson "complained of discomfort after rolling his ankle in Miami" and that a subsequent MRI showed he ruptured his Achilles for a second time:

Browns general manager Andrew Berry told reporters on Monday that Watson suffered a setback in his rehab, but they were still gathering information about the extent of what happened.

"It is new information just learned in the past couple hours. So, I don't have everything yet," Berry said. "I don't want to rule out anything with a major injury. We are still collecting all the information. And obviously our focus is making sure that he can get as healthy as possible."

Watson had surgery on Oct. 25 to repair a ruptured Achilles suffered five days earlier in a 21-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Even though Achilles tears have become more common in the NFL, it's not an injury that has often happened multiple times to the same player. The most recent example is running back Cam Akers, who did it in July 2021 and November 2023.

Akers returned late in the 2021 season with the Los Angeles Rams, helping them on their run to the Super Bowl. He split time this season with the Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings, appearing in 17 regular-season games.

There's no historical precedent for a quarterback who suffered multiple Achilles injuries, particularly in such close proximity to each other.

Watson's playing status for next season was already up in the air before the second Achilles tear. He was going to be on the Browns roster after restructuring his contract in December, but the team seemed likely to go after a quarterback either in the draft or free agency who could at least challenge for the starting spot in 2025 because of Watson's struggles.

This setback all but ensures the Browns will explore various avenues to add to their quarterback room next season. They own the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

Watson has only appeared in 19 games with the Browns over the past three seasons due to injuries and suspension. He finished this season with 1,148 passing yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions in seven games.

Myles Garrett hyped up rookie Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten in a mid-game interaction caught on camera and shared on NFL Films and HBO's Hard Knocks.

"I know I'm a nobody but, if I could get that jersey after?" Rosengarten asked the Cleveland Browns star when the teams met up on Jan. 4.

"Hey, you're in the league. Y'all winning games. Y'all looking great. You ain't never a nobody," Garrett responded. "I got you."

Garrett put himself on pace for a sixth Pro Bowl nod by leading the NFL with 22 tackles for loss this season.

Rosengarten meanwhile became a key part of the Ravens' offensive line while playing 84 percent of offensive tackles his rookie season.

He was regularly matched up with Garrett as the Ravens looked to clinch the AFC North title and turned out to be an effective counter. Garrett was held to two tackles, and one for loss, in the Browns' 35-10 loss.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson meanwhile avoided taking a sack as he threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 63 yards in the Baltimore win.

Rosengarten, who was selected by the Ravens out of Washington in the second round of the 2024 draft, said before his rookie season that he was excited to "be going against the best of the best within the Ravens organization, and then the rest of the division."

"There's some freak athletes out there, and I think those guys on the edge are definitely top of the pedestal when it comes to that," Rosengarten said on the Ravens' official podcast in May. "I just love the challenge, though. Want to bring it every single day."

There's no question that one of the top edge rushers in the AFC North was Garrett, who entered the season as the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

After allowing a sack by Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones on his first NFL snap, Rosengarten has developed throughout his rookie season to the point where he can take on top players like Garrett.