Browns

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam spoke to reporters on Monday to explain his decision to move on from two-time Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski while also keeping GM Andrew Berry.

“I don’t think there was one breaking point,” Haslam said, via Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. “I think you’ve got to look at the body of work, and sometimes it’s just time for a change, and we felt like it was time for a change.”

“It’s easy for me to say yes,” he said when asked if he thought the roster was good enough to win more games. “So yeah, I think it was good enough to win more games.”

Haslam did admit it was a difficult change to make, given Stefanski’s contributions to Cleveland, snapping a two-decade postseason drought and easily becoming the team’s most successful head coach since it returned to the city.

“This was as difficult as any we’ve ever had to make because of the quality of the person involved,” he said. “Organized, worked hard, navigated our ship for six years through the inevitable ups and downs that we face in the NFL. Outstanding father and husband. And I think even you all who are around a lot probably underappreciate how much time we all spend together. There’s nothing more fun than winning an NFL game like we did the last two weeks, beating our archrival Steelers two weeks ago, and then winning yesterday on the last play of the game and seeing the joy in the locker room

“And there’s nothing more distasteful than losing an NFL game. And it’s finite. You either win or you lose. Kevin did a lot of good things here over his time period with us. It was an extremely difficult decision we made. I shouldn’t say I have no doubt, I would be highly optimistic Kevin will be a head coach again in the league.”

• Berry on the firing of Stefanski: “….Kevin’s steady hand led us through the most turbulent part of our strategic pivot and transitional period … the collective underperformance … is something I own.” (Cabot)
• Berry continued: “Ultimately, we felt like we didn’t see enough progress in certain areas we felt were controllable.” (Jackson)
• When asked about coordinators Jim Schwartz and Tommy Rees as potential replacements: “Jim has certainly earned the right to get consideration, but that’s something we still have to discuss…Rees is a very talented young coordinator held in high regard in the NFL and in college football.” (Jackson)
• Berry on possibly losing Schwartz: “One of the costs of turnover is players can get caught in transition in scheme…Ultimately, our thought is let’s find the right head coach, the right leader. We’re very pleased with where that side of the ball (defense) is.” (Grossi)
• On whether the team will move forward with QB Shedeur Sanders: *“I think we saw a lot of progress this year, mentally and physically. He’s very much a work in progress. We’re gonna do...