Sunday Dawg Chow (6/28): New beginnings and low hopes

Browns: New DC will ‘breathe schematic freshness’ into the defense (Thomas Moore) – Mike Rutenberg’s approach can build on past success while adding new twists to enhance Cleveland’s defense.
Browns weapons: ESPN’s rankings have low hopes despite the young talent (Jared Mueller) – Did the Cleveland Browns improve their roster of offensive weapons enough in free agency, the draft? ESPN rankings say no.
The last “Brendan Sorsby, Browns” article you will read, probably, for a few months (Barry Shuck) – Another setback for QB Brendan Sorsby whose path to the NFL, and professional football, keeps getting blocked.

The NFL told Brendan Sorsby he has shown no remorse — and Terry Pluto says they were right (Terry’s Talkin’ podcast) – On Tuesday, the NFL denied the request of Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby to enter a 2026 NFL Supplemental Draft. On the latest episode of the Terry’s Talkin’ podcast, cleveland.com columnist Terry Pluto and host David Campbell delved into the not-so-subtle message that the NFL sent Sorsby and his legal team.
Can the Browns win more than 7 games in 2026? The answer depends on QB (Orange and Brown talk podcast) – Nobody said rebuilding was going to be easy. But heading into the 2026 season, the Browns have layered so many unknowns on top of each other that even the most informed insiders are struggling to land on a firm prediction for the team’s record. On the latest Orange and Brown Talk podcast, that uncertainty came to a head in one of the most revealing debates of the episode, a simple true or false: Will the Browns win more than seven games this season?
Shedeur Sanders facing Browns exit as Cleveland ‘fielding calls’ on bloated quarterback room (Talk Sports) – There are too many bodies in the Cleveland Browns quarterback room, and Shedeur Sanders is reportedly on the trade block.
Browns warned over Deshaun Watson decision (heavy.com) – The Cleveland Browns can insist that their quarterback competition will be decided on the field, but the decision will not be made in a vacuum.

CFL won’t allow QB Brendan Sorsby to join league this season (ESPN) – Another door has closed for Brendan Sorsby’s immediate football future, as the CFL said Friday that the quarterback will not be allowed to join any of its teams for the upcoming season.
Falcons want to see more of Kyle Pitts, and they proved they’re willing to pay for it (The Athletic) – If the timing of Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts’ contract extension came as a surprise, it’s because we haven’t been paying close enough attention to the hints coach Kevin Stefanski has been dropping for two months now.
Josh Allen on 2026 Bills: ‘A lot of new’ but ‘Lombardi Trophy’ quest continues (NFL.com) – Change can be daunting for some. Don’t include Josh Allen in that group.