Cleveland Browns

After taking down T.J. Watt and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett reminded everyone of his status.

The 28-year-old showed respect for Watt, but ultimately said he's still the best defensive player in the NFL.

"I've got a lot of respect for him, a lot of respect for all the guys over there," Garrett told NFL on Prime Video. "I'm No. 1. Edge defender one, edge one, to Defensive Player of the Year. I'm the guy. That runs through me, there's no other person being defended as I am or schemed or planned against like I am. So just goes to show, you can throw that out the window, I'm going to find a way."

Garrett had one of his best games of the season in the win, totaling five tackles including three sacks and a forced fumble. It was his second game of the year with three sacks and he's now up to 10 on the season, the second-best mark in the league.

Watt had four tackles and one tackle for loss, but he didn't pick up any sacks on Thursday. He has 31 tackles, 7.5 sacks and four forced fumbles this year.

There was a bit of controversy last year when Garrett took home the Defensive Player of the Year award over Watt. The Steelers star even took to social media to voice his frustration over the snub.

Watt had 68 tackles, 19 sacks, four forced fumbles and an interception a season ago, while Garrett posted 42 tackles, 14 sacks and four forced fumbles.

Garrett and Watt, who came into the league the same year, have been two of the best defensive players for years now and have had some back and forth with each other, with the Browns star fanning the flames on Thursday.

But Watt can rest assured that while Garrett believes he's No. 1, the Steelers have had an objectively better season than the Browns.

Pittsburgh dropped to 8-3 with the loss, but it is still well on its way to the playoffs and sits atop the AFC North. Cleveland, meanwhile, is 3-8 with hardly any chance of reaching the postseason at this point.

Wintry conditions couldn't stop the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football.

Due to a strong first-half defensive performance and fourth-quarter heroics from Jameis Winston in the snow, the Browns took down the Pittsburgh Steelers by the final score of 24-19 at Huntington Bank Field.

Winston finished 18-of-27 for 219 yards and an interception. While he struggled with inconsistency due to the inclement weather, he found the end zone near the start of the fourth quarter on the ground and helped lead the Browns on a go-ahead scoring drive that ended with roughly a minute remaining in regulation.

He also made several impressive throws to keep the chains moving on Cleveland's final drive.

Fans and athletes alike were impressed with his performance.

Both teams struggled to sustain drives in the snow, combining to score just 16 total points prior to the fourth quarter. The weather caused drops and fumbles throughout the contest.

Fans and pundits still enjoyed the experience, though.

The Steelers fell to 8-3 with the loss, while the Browns improved to 3-8.

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski is not on the hot seat despite speculation otherwise.

"Kevin Stefanski, to my knowledge, based on everything I know, is not going anywhere," NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said on the The Insiders Thursday (h/t NFL.com's Eric Edholm).

"I assume people will still be asking. It has been an unfortunate season. They don't have the results they wanted. But I would be beyond stunned if Kevin Stefanski was not the Browns' coach next year."

Rapoport's comments would align with ESPN's Adam Schefter reporting on Thursday's edition of Get Up! (h/t ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi).

The 42-year-old Stefanski is in his fifth year coaching the Browns, who have bottomed out to 2-8 this season. He's led Cleveland to a 39-38 regular season record and two playoff appearances during his tenure.

This year has undoubtedly been a disastrous campaign for the Browns, who are playing out the string of a lost season.

Cleveland is notably second-last in points per game, much of which had to do with the historically poor performance of quarterback Deshaun Watson over the team's first seven matchups.

However, the defense hasn't fared well either, landing 24th in the NFL in points allowed per game. Cleveland has given up 20 or more points in nine of its 10 matchups.

This season doesn't feature any easy matchups on paper down the stretch either, with five of the Browns' final seven games occurring against teams with winning records.

The other two are against the Cincinnati Bengals (who went on the road to beat the Browns 21-14 earlier this year) and the Miami Dolphins (who have fared much better of late following quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's return from a concussion).

So this season could end ugly, perhaps adding more fuel to the hot seat fire. Looking at the big picture, though, Stefanski has done something (win a playoff game) that no Browns coach was able to do since the franchise's return to the NFL in 1999. Cleveland also made the playoffs just once from 1999-2019, and Stefanski has doubled that amount in his first four years.

In addition, he just signed a contract extension with the team last offseason. It wouldn't make much sense for the Browns to cut bait after that decision despite one bad year.

Next year is an important one for Cleveland, though. At this point, the Browns need to find a long-term solution at quarterback given Watson's performance and a torn Achilles suffered last October. The Browns' offensive fortunes could very well turn around with a new signal-caller. Backup Jameis Winston has clearly helped, to the point where he led the Browns to a massive 29-24 upset win over the Baltimore Ravens.

The defense, which has clearly regressed this season, needs to find some answers too. Cleveland has some star pieces in place with edge-rusher Myles Garrett and cornerback Denzel Ward but needs to continue building around them.

But by all accounts, it looks like Stefanski will be back in 2025 to try to turn the ship around. It may be tough considering the brutally competitive nature of the AFC North, but he deserves another chance given his past resume.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy shared a series of cryptic posts following a report that New York Jets owner Woody Johnson blocked a potential trade for him ahead of the 2024 season.

The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt and Dianna Russini reported on Wednesday that former Jets general manager Joe Douglas pursued a trade for Jeudy that was "nixed" by Johnson.

Douglas was fired on Tuesday after more than five seasons with the Jets.

Jeudy was traded from the Denver Broncos to the Browns for a fifth- and sixth-round pick ahead of the 2024 season.

According to Rosenblatt and Russini, Douglas was prepared to send wideout Allen Lazard and a second- or third-round selection to Denver in exchange for Jeudy.

That deal might have involved the Broncos taking on Lazard's contract. The 28-year-old wideout is signed through 2026 at a cap hit of more than $13 million for the next two seasons, per Spotrac.

Jeudy's contract is meanwhile set to cost just under $8 million against the cap in 2025. He is signed through 2027 with a potential out after the 2026 season, per Spotrac.

Jeudy has made a team-high 39 catches for 560 yards and two receiving touchdowns through 10 games with the Browns.

After the wideout expressed some frustration with his target share earlier this season, Jeudy's usage has spiked since Jameis Winston was named the team's starter Deshaun Watson's season-ending Achilles injury in Week 7.

Jeudy has received 22 targets through the Browns' last two games, and he and Winston connected on an 89-yard catch-and-run touchdown during Sunday's loss to the New Orleans Saints.

The score marked the longest Browns play since 2019 and the fourth-longest pass in franchise history, per ESPN Research and Andrew Siciliano.

At the time of his injury, Watson had an NFL-low quarterback rating of 23.5. The Jets have undergone similar quarterback turmoil, with Tommy DeVito set to take over after Daniel Jones was demoted to a third-string role ahead of Week 12.

Given the Browns' recent promotion of Winston and Jeudy's corresponding increase in production, the wideout may be happy looking back that the Broncos dealt him to Cleveland rather than New York.

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski says he is not worried about his job security following his team's 2-8 start to the season.

"I think probably because I grew up listening to [Philadelphia radio], I'm smart enough to not worry about outside noise," Stefanski said, per ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi. "I get that's part of this gig. That's life in the big city. My sole focus is getting this team ready to get a win on Thursday night. That's it."

Stefanski was named the NFL's Coach of the Year after leading the Browns to a Wild Card game appearance in 2023.

The Browns are currently preparing for a Thursday night matchup with the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers, who will enter the contest on a five-game victory streak.

The Browns, meanwhile, are entering the matchup having conceded their seventh loss in eight games following a 35-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

Cleveland tied the game at 14 in the third quarter but was unable to contain the Saints offense in the fourth. The Browns defense looked particularly exposed on the 33-yard touchdown run from Taysom Hill that stood as the game-deciding play.

Jameis Winston threw for 395 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers, but the quarterback's performance wasn't enough to make up for the lack of late pushback.

That dispiriting loss sparked rumors regarding the presence of former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel on the Caesars Superdome sideline.

The Browns brought Vrabel on as a consultant before the 2024 season. Vrabel was already the subject of head coaching buzz this offseason after he reportedly interviewed for head coaching roles with the Los Angeles Chargers, Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers.

That buzz was renewed on Sunday when Vrabel was seen on the sideline of a Browns road game for the first time, but Stefanski said on Monday that nothing had changed regarding Vrabel's role with the team.

"Vrabes is involved in a lot of what we do," Stefanski said. "He's out there on home games, he was able to come to this one. He's listening in on the conversations with us. He's a great resource for me, game day, Monday through Friday. So he will continue to do that."

Stefanski, who has led the Browns to two winning seasons and two playoff appearances since joining the franchise in 2020, signed an extension alongside general manager Andrew Berry ahead of the 2024 season. The team has not disclosed the length of the deal.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Kadarius Toney has been elevated from the practice squad, according to ClevelandBrowns.com.

Toney could make his season debut with the Browns on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints after being signed to the practice squad in September, following his release by the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Florida alumni was the 20th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft to the New York Giants where he spent two seasons before being traded to the Chiefs.

He played 12 games for the Giants, totaling 420 yards and 21 first-down conversions.

In two seasons with Kansas City, he appeared in 20 games, recording 340 yards and three touchdowns.

Last season with the Chiefs, Toney was projected to be the team's leading wide receiver but made several on-field errors, leading to the fourth-year player starting just two games for Kansas City.

He also dealt with several injuries in 2023, including an ankle and a hip injury, limiting him to just 13 games.

In addition to Toney, defensive tackle Sam Kamara and defensive end Elerson Smith have been promoted to the active roster in preparation for Sunday's game.

Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. raised eyebrows earlier this week when he told reporters he "made a business decision" to not play against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 8 due to an injury.

He was promptly benched upon his return in favor of his replacement, Dawand Jones, though Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski defended Wills on Wednesday.

"It was a poor choice of words," he told reporters. "I know the connotation of 'business decision.' That's not how he meant it. He did not feel like he was near 100 percent to help us. But a poor choice of words and he understands it."

Wills said earlier in the week that he wasn't sure if the Browns had misinterpreted his decision to not play, but said he wasn't thrilled with losing his starting spot.

"I think upset isn't a good word to use," he told reporters. "I would say it's more frustrating. But, I mean, it's not my decision. I can only do what I can do."

"You wouldn't want to go out there and put forth 70 percent of your effort while you're injured, and then you have somebody else who can go out there and give 100 percent" he added. "I don't want to be out there the whole time thinking about my knee. I got to focus on my assignment."

Stefanski said Wednesday that Wills sitting out the Ravens game didn't factor into the change in the depth chart and that the veteran offensive tackle would be given the chance to win back his starting job. For now, however, Jones will remain the starting left tackle.

Wills, 25, was the No. 10 overall selection for the Browns in the 2020 NFL draft and has started 57 of the 58 games he's played in his career. But he's on the final year of his rookie deal, and after the Browns restructured it, they would face a dead cap hit charge of $11.8 million next season if he didn't re-sign.

If Jones continues to impress and retains his starting spot, it's hard to envision Wills sticking around Cleveland. And after having his 2023 season cut short due to a torn MCL, it's easy to see why he would be cautious with an injury heading into free agency.

The 2-7 Browns, meanwhile, are probably facing a soft rebuild this offseason, given that they are stuck with Deshaun Watson and his prohibitively expensive contract. Allowing young players like Jones to show what they can do down the stretch makes sense as the Browns evaluate which players to build around in the future.

Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. has been benched after choosing to sit out against the Baltimore Ravens due to a hyperextended knee injury.

The injury, affecting a previously injured knee, originally occurred in Week 7 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Wills Jr. said he made a "business decision" to sit out, a choice the team seemingly did not support. He was then informed that he would be benched in favor of second-year tackle Dawand Jones, who moved from right tackle to take his spot, according to ESPN.

"It was pretty shocking," Wills Jr. said on Monday, per ESPN. "I mean, I decided myself. I made a business decision not to play after the Bengals game going into that Ravens game because I was injured. And then the next week is when I received the news."

Following the Browns 29-24 upset over the Baltimore Ravens – during the game that Wills Jr. chose to sit out – head coach Kevin Stefanski told him that he would not be the starter moving forward and would serve as a "swing" tackle, per ESPN.

"I'm not trying to say anything about [Wills]," Stefanski said last week, per ESPN. "I'm just trying to put Dawand out there and let him get better. Jed is still a player that we believe in, and right now he's got to be ready to go."

Wills Jr. believes the Browns may have misinterpreted his decision to sit out and is frustrated with the team's response.

"I think upset isn't a good word to use," Wills Jr. said, according to ESPN. "I would say it's more frustrating. But, I mean, it's not my decision. I can only do what I can do."

Wills Jr. insisted that he did not want to take the field unless he was at 100 percent and able to his full effort.

"You wouldn't want to go out there and put forth 70% of your effort while you're injured, and then you have somebody else who can go out there and give 100%," he said, according to ESPN. "I don't want to be out there the whole time thinking about my knee. I got to focus on my assignment."

Whether the Browns and Wills Jr. will remain together next season is certainly up in the air for the 25-year-old out of Alabama.

"I like wherever I'm wanted," he said. "You know what I mean?"

The Browns will travel to New Orleans to face the Saints on Sunday, with Wills Jr. expected to come off the bench.