Dawgs By Nature
The Cleveland Browns made a ton of moves this offseason, with a big turnover on the coaching staff and the offensive side of the football. The biggest move was trading DE Myles Garrett, but the impact of that decision will take a couple of years to play out, even if some of it is felt in 2026.
With training camp opening next week and rookies reporting in a few days, now is a good time to look back at the offseason decisions and see where things stand.
Not everything was perfect this offseason (more on that in a different piece), but there are some positive decisions that still look good months later:
To be honest, I think Berry has done an okay to good job in his role given some of the constraints around him. While I know some of you will stop reading this list after seeing Berry’s name here, just know I’m not someone who just assumes everything he does is good. On the other hand, I have the privilege of talking to NFL types from all over the league every year at the NFL Combine, and their respect for Berry is pretty universal.
The reason I have Berry on this list, however, is continuity. It is one of the few things that the Cleveland organization hasn’t had since “The Return.” Berry’s vision continues after a very good 2025 NFL draft class, which led to this year’s being pretty exciting, and keeps the Browns roster from seeing complete turnover just because “they aren’t my guys.”
Whether Todd Monken was the right hire or not is still up in the air, but Cleveland needed someone to help right the ship on that side of the ball. The NFL has now added “offensive play caller” to the list of “must-haves” (along with an owner who will spend, a good head coach, and a good quarterback). Finding a good play caller to work under a defensive-minded head coach is far more difficult, so hiring an offensive-minded head coach just made sense.
The Browns obviously needed a left tackle, and Fano provided the most certainty at the position. At the Combine, the consensus was that Fano would be at least a five- to 10-year Pro Bowl player. Does he have the same upside as some others? Maybe not, but he creates a lot of certainty for Cleveland’s offensive line.
I also like that Berry still had his pick of offensive linemen when he took Fano (no second-guessing), while adding draft picks in the initial trade down.
While the Browns may have tried to get Joel Bitonio to return, letting David Njoku, Wyatt Teller, Devin Bush, and others walk away allows for the team’s future to create the identity of the locker room. Bitonio’s return may have been nice, but now Cleveland’s younger players must take control of the team and its future instead of...
