Haslam expects playoffs for Browns, but no ultimatum for Stefanski or Berry
Mar. 28—The Browns have been to the playoffs only one time since Jimmy Haslam bought the team from Randy Lerner in 2012.
Now, in the second year with Deshaun Watson as the quarterback and the fourth year with Kevin Stefanski as head coach, Haslam is making it very clear he expects the Browns to be in the playoffs this year.
Haslam on March 27 met with the reporters covering the NFL league meetings in Phoenix. His wife Dee as co-owner of the Browns was with him for the session that lasted nearly half an hour.
The Browns were 11-5 and Stefanski was named Coach of the Year in 2020, but in the two years since then they were 8-9 and 7-10. Haslam stopped short of saying the jobs of Stefanski and General Manager Andrew Berry are in jeopardy if the Browns miss the playoffs for a third straight year.
"I don't want to say that, but I think that we have expectations to go to the playoffs," Haslam said. "But I'm not going to say if we don't make the playoffs, X, Y, Z happens because that'll be the headline tomorrow. Listen, the AFC is tough. Our division is tough.
"I think you have to realize this: Kevin just turned 40. Andrew's 35. They're now entering their fourth year into the job, and we spent a lot of time with these guys. We've seen them grow. Kevin had never even been a coordinator for one year when we hired him. So he hadn't had a lot of experience in what I'll call management. I think he's learned and grown tremendously over the last two or three years."
Continuity was the buzzword for the coaching staff in 2021 and 2022. Alex Van Pelt as offensive coordinator, Joe Woods as defensive coordinator and Mike Priefer as special teams coordinator were with Stefanski each of the first three years Stefanski was head coach. Most of the position coaches remained on the staff for the second and third seasons.
It is noteworthy that of the three coordinators, Van Pelt is the only one Stefanski hadn't worked with during his time as an assistant coach with the Vikings. Stefanski stepped out of his comfort zone after firing Woods and Priefer by hiring Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator and Bubba Ventrone as special teams coordinator. Stefanski hadn't worked with either before.
"I think he did a really nice job of upgrading his staff," Jimmy Haslam said. "I think both the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator ... I think we're substantially — I want to be careful — I just think we put ourselves in a much better position. We'll say it like that."
Berry has been busy since the new league year began March 15. The Browns signed 10 free agents and traded with the Jets for wide receiver Elijah Moore. The Browns also re-signed linebackers Sione Takitaki and Anthony Walker plus center Ethan Pocic. Highlights among the free-agent signings include defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo, safety Juan Thornhill and wide receiver Marquise Goodwin — all with the goal of catching the Bengals in the AFC North.
"I think Andrew's done a nice job of fitting in the pieces of what we needed to shore up our defensive line," Haslam said. "We got a good safety. We got a couple of good receivers.
"And Andrew's not through working. So I guess we feel good about Kevin, feel good about him coming into the season, feel good about Andrew and now you know, you need to have some breaks and not have too many injuries, the ball bounces your way and win games. But everybody understands how important that is."
Haslam also addressed the future of FirstEnergy Stadium. Hard to believe, but 2023 will be the 25th year the Browns have played there since they were an expansion team in 1999. The 30-year lease expires after the 2028 season.
The lingering question is, do the Browns and city of Cleveland renovate the current stadium, or does the football team need a new home — one with a cover so it could be used year-round for different events? The next question is, who is going to pay for upgrades or a new crib?
"Construction costs have gotten very high lately," Jimmy Haslam said. "And so I think everybody has to be practical, and Dee said it well. Cleveland would benefit tremendously from the development of the waterfront. Having the stadium down there seems to be in everybody's best interest.
"So we're committed to redoing the stadium. In all likelihood, it's not going to have a dome, but it'll be a substantial remodel of the existing facility and we're probably three, four or five years away from that happening."
Naturally, Haslam was asked about Watson. A year has passed since the Browns traded six draft picks to the Texans for him. They took heat for aggressively trading for a quarterback accused of sexual misconduct by 25 massage therapists, and they took more heat from NFL owners for giving Watson an unprecedented five-year, $230 million contract.
Watson served an 11-game NFL suspension last season for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.
In the end, the Browns have their quarterback for the next four seasons. The Ravens can't say the same thing. Their quarterback, Lamar Jackson, wants to be traded because the Ravens won't give him a contract that matches Watson's. Joe Burrow of the Bengals is entering his fourth season and soon will be in line for a contract that might dwarf the one the Browns gave Watson.
"Everybody understands that in the NFL it's all about the quarterback, right?," Haslam said. "The Kansas City Chiefs have been to three of the last four Super Bowls, won two of them. Why? They got No. 15 (Patrick Mahomes).
"There are a lot of really good young quarterbacks in the NFL. There's a lot of really good young quarterbacks in the AFC. So we felt we needed to be aggressive in getting a quarterback. Quarterbacks in their prime don't come in the market when they're 26. So we reached out and grabbed Deshaun.
"I'm sure there are things we could have handled better, but you live and you learn as you go. That was completely new territory for all of us and (you) make the best situation."
Watson was 3-3 in his six starts with the Browns in 2022. He was 28-25 as a starter for the Texans over four seasons.
