Dawgs By Nature
Coaching changes, NFL free agency, NFL draft and more have shaped the 2025 Browns
The Cleveland Browns won just three games last year. With so few wins and a ton of losses, obviously, changes needed to be made going into the 2025 season. And not just one or two here and there, almost every position that overflowed into the coaching staff.
On paper, the 2024 Browns looked pretty good. The year before, they had made the playoffs, finished in second place in the AFC North Division, and held the highest Wild Card seed for the postseason. Head coach Kevin Stefanski was named Coach of the Year. EDGE rusher Myles Garrett captured his first Defensive Player of the Year award (DPOY). Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was voted the Assistant Coach of the Year, while journeyman quarterback Joe Flacco was given the league’s Comeback Player of the Year despite playing just six games.
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So, going into last year’s training camp, with all the success that the 2023 season had provided, including several Pro Bowls and league accolades, what could go wrong?
That just happens to be a list.
Cleveland GM Andrew Berry went to work and has made numerous changes to the franchise. Here are the top situations that he has changed, which hopefully have reshaped the Browns and sent them in the opposite direction from last year’s fiasco.
Around the time of this year’s Super Bowl, Garrett dropped a bomb, stating he wanted to be traded. He was unhappy with the direction the Browns were headed, made up this nice little note, and at the conclusion, stated he wanted Cleveland to trade him to a playoff contender so that he might have a chance at getting a Super Bowl ring before his playing days dwindle on down and his loss of faith in the Browns.
Many media outlets came out in support of Garrett, and said they didn’t want him to fall into that category of All-World NFL athletes who never sniffed a chance at a ring such as Dan Marino, Dick Butkus, Eric Dickerson, and LaDamian Tomlinson. Why shouldn’t Garrett be traded and be given this opportunity?
It was assumed that the trade partner might be willing to give up at least two first-round draft picks and maybe a player for the rights to Garrett. But the financials did not add up for Cleveland, nor the team he would be traded to. Garrett was a finalist for the DPOY award again, as this trade subject lingered for months until Berry got together with Garrett’s agent during the Combine in March and inked the talented pass rusher to a four-year extension for $204,796,125 in total value.
The signing was significant for the Browns’ defense, who have one of the best defensive coordinators in the league and knows how to use Garrett’s talent. After all, Garrett’s being named DPOY was in...
