Updated: Mar 22
It's no surprise that the Cleveland Browns have struggled massively over the last decade or so, but no team has even come close to the total failure of the Cleveland Browns front office in recent years. Being a team that has never won the super bowl always comes with major pressure week in week out, not only for the players, but the head coach, the coaching staff, but especially the general manager. With the browns being one of these teams yet to win the most prized award in football, the pressure is always higher than any other franchise due to the ruthless, hardcore fanbase the Browns are notorious for, but its seems over the last decade the pressure seems to be too high, resulting in a shocking 2 winning records in the last 10 years, including an appalling 0-16 record in the 2017 season, being the only winless team in the NFL since the 2008 Detroit Lions. But the real question is why the Browns have such a bad history, and why they are so unsuccessful, and the answer is simple, terrible front office movements. The Browns have had 5 general managers in the last 10 years instantly highlighting the poor infrastructure of the franchise, and too much change in systems within the team over the course of 10 years in terms of coaching changes, staff movements but most importantly dealings with the team, especially draft capital. The Browns have been notorious for trading draft picks rashly in recent years, being one of the key reasons for the team's poor history. In 2022 the Browns made a trade which will now possibly be known as one of the worst trades in NFL history after trading their 2022, 2023, and 2024 1st round draft picks to the Houston Texans in return for the returning once star quarterback Deshaun Watson, which eventually panned out to be one of the biggest bust blockbuster trades in recent NFL history. These picks eventually went on to be 2023 NFL defensive rookie of the year Will Anderson Jr, and star guard Kenyon Green, two major assets the Browns could have developed and utilised in a championship calibre team. Across recent years they have also made many a number of silly trades involving promising draft capital, such as trading their 2023 2nd round pick for wide receiver Elijah Moore who has performed nowhere near a 2nd round pick value player, once again highlighting the ‘now or never’ mentality within the Cleveland Browns organisation.
Although trading valuable draft capital rashly isn't the only aspect which shows how the are poorly run, but the financial aspects within the team outlines how inner workings of the organisation can be down to the team, and some of the terrible financial decisions the team decided to make, restricting them from moving forward in the future. For example, one of the biggest mistakes the browns have made financially is constantly granting guaranteed money options to players with no definite future. A good example is Quarterback Deshaun Watson who not only did they trade 3 1st round picks for, but granted him a guaranteed salary of $230 million despite his future in doubt. Wide receiver Jerry Judy was also granted $41 million guaranteed within his contract, along with backup quarterback Jameis Winston being promised $4 million, with both players' futures in doubt. It's no doubt an internal problem within the Cleveland Browns organisation which has caused this failing system, and arguably a cultural issue. The fans have a reputation, they want to win, they desperately want to win, but does this ruthless reputation stand in the way of success in Cleveland? With constant coaching changes, new general managers, new systems on and off the field, the fans do play a part in the franchises constant failure, but it's clear, the franchise as a whole is terribly run, the winning ideology does not exist anymore in Cleveland, and something needs to change quickly, or things will just get worse, not just for the team, but the fans.
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