The Cleveland Browns begin their 2026 campaign today against the Jacksonville Jaguars as they continue to search for answers for the many questions that surround the franchise.
Two time NFL Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski was let go. Fresh off of setting the single season sack record, reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett was traded. Embattled quarterback Deshaun Watson is starting for the Cleveland Browns in 2026.
It has been quite the offseason for the Browns in terms of headlines which is sadly where they seem to make the most noise instead of winning on the actual football field.
So what now?
The Youth Movement
General Manager Andrew Berry has spent the last couple of offseasons revamping and transitioning this Browns roster. Without having first round picks from the Watson trade, the amount of young talent on the roster was scarce. Now the roster has gone from one of the oldest to one of the youngest in the NFL in a short amount of time.
Last season, the Browns got major contributions from a lot of their rookies. Linebacker Carson Schwesinger, drafted in the second round, won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Defensive tackle Mason Graham, running backs Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson, tight end Harold Fannin also made key contributions. They drafted two quarterbacks, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, who started games last year.
This year, they have two rookies starting on the offensive line in week one, Spencer Fano and Austin Barber. They have two new wide receivers in KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston who will be focal points of the offensive gameplan. Safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren will play significant snaps on defense.
Speaking of the offensive line, there are five new starters that will take the field today. After Joel Bitonio retired and others left in free agency, the Browns had a lot of work to do. Tytus Howard was brought in via trade and given an extension. Elgton Jenkins and Zion Johnson were brought in via free agency to round out the line with Fano and Barber.
In the trade of Myles Garrett, the Browns acquired three future draft picks and they also acquired defensive end Jared Verse in the deal. It was pivotal that there was a legitimate player in the trade of Garrett because you could not create another question mark on this roster heading into the season. Instead, injuries have created a question opposite of Verse.
All of these offseason moves are positive in moving this roster in the right direction but the biggest question remains as it has since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999.
The Quarterback Situation
It has been 10,011 days since the Browns drafted Tim Couch and we are still asking ourselves, “Is there a franchise quarterback on this roster or will we be already focused on the 2027 NFL Draft?”
After Browns owner Jimmy Haslam called the Watson trade a “swing and a miss”, it seemed unfathomable that Watson would ever play, let alone start, for the Browns again. The contract they gave him was a colossal failure along with trading the draft capital to acquire him. As he takes the field today, there is very little optimism for any sort of good performances. Ever since he arrived here, Watson has been a hollow shell of the quarterback that he once was and has had devastating injuries on top of that.
Enter new Cleveland Browns Head Coach Todd Monken. After a lengthy quarterback competition, Monken has decided to go with Watson as much as the preference for Shedeur Sanders to start is for Browns fans, mine included. As mentioned, the youth movement for the Browns has been in full swing the last couple of seasons and it should be extended to the quarterback position as well.
Now let’s make no mistake about it, this may be Todd Monken’s, at age 60, only chance to be a NFL head coach. He is going to put the players out there who are going to give the Browns the best chance to win football games. Monken should have a sense of urgency to win.
If history tells us anything, we will get to see Shedeur start games for the Browns in 2026. It is a very rare occurrence when a quarterback starts all season for Cleveland. They may get even further down the depth chart than Sanders with rookie Taylen Green and Dillon Gabriel, once he returns from injured reserve.
The Browns have a lot of questions to still answer but none is more important than the quarterback position. As of right now, it is unlikely that one of the quarterbacks on the roster will be the franchise quarterback. That distinction may be at the collegiate level with Arch Manning, Dante Moore, Julian Sayin, Drew Mestemaker, Darian Mensah and others.
Measuring Success
Yes, wins in the NFL do matter. If you are not holding up the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season, then you did not do enough winning. However, with the 2026 Cleveland Browns, holding that trophy at the end of the season is an impossible task.
So how do we measure if the Browns had a successful 2026 season?
First off, the aforementioned young players need to continue to show signs of development and that they can be legitimate NFL starters. The youth movement is going to continue with next year’s draft so the current rookies and sophomores have to prove that they belong and can hold down their positions.
Secondly, the Browns need to have any sort of semblance of a functional offense and to me, that begins with running the football. It is going to be a challenge with a brand new offensive line with five new starters. Monken loves to run the football and it is something that the fanbase loves to see as well in a city like Cleveland. If the new offensive line can be a cohesive unit, move the opposition while running and protect the quarterback, then it will be one of the bigger successes of Andrew Berry.
Next, without Myles Garrett, can the Browns’ defense be able to apply pressure to opposing quarterbacks? Jared Verse will be able to do that but it remains to be seen if the trio of Isaiah McGuire, Derek Barnett and Sam Williams can apply pressure on the opposite side. Mike Hall Jr., entering his third season, showed some flashes in the preseason at defensive end and can insert his name into the mix as well.
Lastly, Andrew Berry and the Cleveland Browns have to find an answer on all of the quarterbacks on this roster. If one of these quarterbacks is able to take the reins and be the franchise quarterback, then it will mean more than any win that they can obtain this season. On the other hand, if it is determined by their play on the field that they are incapable of having that distinction, then it will be a success in knowing they will have to draft one in 2027.
The Cleveland Browns are not a finished football team by any means. They are not a playoff team or Super Bowl on paper. The Browns are also not a hopeless team with no future either. The state of the franchise is that the Browns are in the uncomfortable middle of a transition. The Browns have enough young talent to create genuine optimism but also have enough uncertainty at quarterback to keep the franchise from actually competing
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Unpopular opinion: I think Deshaun Watson was the right choice for the long term development of Shedeur Sanders. I know everyone says it was just because of the contract, but I assure you, had Watson not been on the roster, we would’ve went out and got a late-career veteran to manage the game while this young offense develops.
Shedeur Sanders didn’t have a productive rookie year in terms of development. Stefanski had him throwing to the practice team for half the year and then just threw him in the fire. It’s clear that Stefanski had no interest in his development.