Could the Browns stay downtown past 2028?

The Cleveland Browns have still not reached the midway point of the 2025 NFL season, and just about everyone is ready to turn the page to 2026.

Or in the eyes of owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, perhaps that should be 2029.

That is the year, after all, when the shiny new stadium will presumably open in the Cleveland suburb of Brook Park. You know, the one:

• With an estimated cost of $2.4 billion.
• That will have a seating capacity of 67,500 for football games.
• That will theoretically entice big events to the area, or take the big events that already occur downtown and move them to the suburbs.
• That may or may not have enough parking spaces for said events.
• That may or may not impact traffic at Cleveland Hopkins Airport, both in the form of cars on the road and planes in the air.
• Will have hotels, restaurants, office space, and residential units.

Yes, that one!

The year 2029 is key here because the team’s lease with the City of Cleveland to play at Huntington Bank Field on the shores of Lake Erie expires after the 2028 season, so the Browns will need somewhere to ply their particular brand of football after the calendar turns to 2029.

But what if the new home in the suburbs is still under construction? What happens then?

Good question! Thankfully, when planning for such a big project, it is always wise to have a contingency plan in place, and the Browns are reportedly on top of it.

Earlier this week, team officials and Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb came to an agreement over the team moving, removing all the pesky lawsuits that were surrounding the deal, after team ownership agreed to give the city $100 million to help with the cost of demolishing the current stadium, get the site ready for future development, and fund some additional, unspecified projects around the city.

The deal also includes an option for the Browns to continue playing at the downtown stadium through the 2030 season in case the Brook Park project falls behind schedule, according to numerous media reports.

While Mayor Bibb and the Haslams are ready to get moving on all this, Cleveland City Council still needs to approve a few parts of the agreement, with Bibb planning to introduce the terms when City Council meets again on Monday.