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.
1. Signed DE Myles Garrett to an extension instead of trading him
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.
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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 Schwartz’s first year running the defense. The Garrett extension allowed Cleveland to pass on EDGE rusher Abdul Carter in the draft and select the best defensive tackle available, thus solving another team need of stopping the run up the center gaps.
And kept Garrett available to continue to wreak havoc on opposing offenses.
2. Fired OL coach Andy Dickerson
Everyone in the Browns’ training facility realized the act of allowing OL coach Bill Callahan to leave Cleveland and go help his son, new head coach Brian Callahan of the Tennessee Titans, was a huge mistake. He was still under contract when he requested an out. And usually, the successor of greatness is always a disappointment. That was true with Berry’s hiring of Andy Dickerson to coach the offensive line.
The offensive line room that Callahan left had two Pro Bowl guards in Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller, and All-Pro Jack Conklin starting at right tackle. LT Jedrick Wills was a first-round draft pick, and the team had just drafted massive OT Dawand Jones and backup center Luke Wypler, both out of Ohio State, along with OG Zak Zinter in Round 3. Michael Dunn was a dependable backup, plus a new set of NFL-starting caliber tackles in Germain Ifedi and Hakeem Adeniji to fill out the room habituated by OT James Hudson.
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When Callahan was with the Browns, his assistant was Scott Peters. But he was hired by the New England Patriots to head up their offensive line room, so it wasn’t like Peters could just slide into Callahan’s spot and continue Callahan’s philosophy. Dickerson came from the Seattle Seahawks.
For most weeks, the Browns allowed the most sacks of any offensive line group.
They finished the season with the second-most sacks with 66, just two off the league lead. That averages out to be 3.88 sacks allowed per game if you are keeping score at home. The offense came in at #31 in pass completion percentage at 59.8%, third-fewest touchdowns (19), most interceptions given (23), and dead last in average yards per completion (5.9) and average points scored per game (15.2).
The run game also suffered. The Browns had the fourth-fewest rushing yards (1,608), fifth-fewest rushing attempts (391), second-fewest rushing touchdowns (8), ninth-fewest runs of 20-plus yards, and seventh-fewest rushes for first down conversions (93).
All of these numbers reflect a bad offensive line. Or coaching. Or both.
Wills, Jones, Wypler, Adeniji, Hudson, and backup center Nick Harris spent time on IR with various injuries, which certainly didn’t help. The Browns ended up starting eight different offensive line combinations, including seven in the first eight games.
Dickerson had worked with Callahan in both 2008 and 2011 while with the New York Jets. But even when the regular starters were on the field together, Dickerson’s units appeared overwhelmed.
Part of the reason is that the Browns got away from the West Coast-based scheme that Stefanski ran in his first four seasons as coach. Part of this was to make Cleveland’s offense a better fit for the style of QB Deshaun Watson with an increased use of spread formations and run-pass options. That’s what Stefanski has been comfortable with and has had the most success using.
After Dickerson’s firing, Stefanski gave this explanation to the Akron Beacon Journal:
“Just bottom line, I want to go in a different direction. We need to improve, as everybody knows, on the offensive side of the ball. That’s what we plan to do.”
Mike Bloomgren was hired as the new offensive line coach on January 8, 2025, to fix both the offensive line and the run game.
3. Gutted the QB room
The trade for QB Deshaun Watson is obviously one of the worst in NFL history and even has its own Wikipedia page. Not only the high draft picks the Browns lost, which in turn has catapulted the Houston Texans as consecutive division winners, but Watson just never played very good. Or many games. In all, he suited up for 19 games.
Not to beat a dead horse, but his Achilles injury in Week 7 last year against the Cincinnati Bengals, has proved to be a positive instead of devastating news. Usually, when your starting quarterback goes down for the remainder of the season, everyone freaks out. But it began a trend of the Browns starting to score points and moving the offense with backup Jameis Winston under center.
During the off-season, Berry has completely turned the quarterback room over.
He did not re-sign Winston, who was durable and was able to move the offense, but was a turnover machine, tossing 12 picks in just seven starts. The youngster Dorian Thompson-Robinson was proving to be more of a project than first expected. In his two starts, DTR lost both games and completed just 51.7% of his passes with zero TDs and six interceptions on his own with a QB rating of 19.4.
Bailey Zappe was Cleveland’s emergency QB stashed on the practice squad for most of the season and started the final game. With his start, the Browns set a new NFL record for the “Most starting quarterbacks in two years,” using nine signal-callers during the 2023-2024 seasons.
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This off-season, Watson was in rehab while DTR was the only healthy quarterback on the roster. Berry then shipped DTR to the Philadelphia Eagles for QB Kenny Pickett, a former first-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Right before the NFL draft, veteran Joe Flacco was brought back to Cleveland.
Then in the NFL draft, Dillon Gabriel of Oregon became Stefanski’s choice for a young QB to groom, taken in Round 3, and then Berry selected Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders in Round 5.
Suddenly, the Browns had five quarterbacks. Watson is likely to be placed on IR at some point. As far as the starting nod, it appears to be wide open. It has been assumed that Flacco will become the starter with Pickett the backup with his 25 NFL starts. Then the two rookies could battle it out for QB3.
But it appears that Stefanski is satisfied with the starting position open to every athlete in the room, including both rookies. Which should be an exciting event.
Because what the Browns had last year on the QB depth chart was nothing more than Problem1, Problem2, and Problem3.
4. Brought in several studs to the RB group
All of us Browns fans wish that Berry would somehow sign RB Nick Chubb and let him have one last opportunity to prove he can still play at an elite level. On a recent podcast, it appeared that Berry has moved on from Chubb.
Veteran RB Jerome Ford took a pay cut. Berry drafted two young guys in the NFL draft, one in Round 2. These events pretty much sealed Chubb’s fate with the franchise.
And while the actions of Ford haven’t kept up hopes for a rejuvenation of the Browns’ running game back to one of the league’s best, the act of drafting two young stallions onto the roster is a sign that good times are not that far off.
It wasn’t that long ago that Cleveland was one of the best running clubs in the NFL. Their offensive line was ranked #3 just a few short years ago. Chubb was ranked at the top or near the top of the rushing leaders each week and annually competed for the league’s leading rusher.
Quinshon Judkins of Ohio State is a home run hitter. He was taken with the 36th pick, Cleveland’s second in Round 2. He runs a 4.48 in the 40 and has a 38.5 vertical jump. He has the quickness, vision, and violence to be a productive lead option with a clear path to become the starting running back this year, with excellent hands.
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In Round 4, Berry selected Dylan Sampson of Tennessee. Sampson was the SEC Offensive Player of the Year and ran a 4.46. He has an exceptional burst through the hole and then has another gear. Sampson will display nasty jump cuts and elite short-area quickness. This is a sensational value pick and absolutely loads up the running back group as a whole with overflowing talent. Hopefully, we will see some Judkins/Sampson reps in live games.
The Browns also have housed several fullbacks in camp this year, a position that hasn’t been seen in camp in a few years. It is not known if Stefanski wants to provide additional blocking going forward, but it is something to watch, and hopefully, Cleveland can get back to being a steady running team.
5. Drafted LB Carson Schwesinger
Cleveland owned the very first pick in Round 2. This pick is considered first-round talent at second-round pay.
Lots of really good players were sitting there on Day 2, and Berry turned down a few trade offers. Several players were allegedly first-round picks who had fallen into the next round. Many of these blue-chip positions were needed for the Browns, such as safety Nick Emmanwori of South Carolina, Missouri receiver Luther Burden, and offensive tackle Aireontae Ersery from Minnesota. Yet, Berry chose a linebacker.
On the roster already is Jordan Hicks who has had five different seasons in which he eclipsed the 100-tackle mark including 150 in 2019. JOK had an injury, but was elected to the Pro Bowl last year with his 101-tackle performance. Devin Bush has shown flashes with 10 starts and 76 tackles, while Mohamoud Diabate has proved his worth with 11 starts in just his second season.
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Berry selected Carson Schwesinger out of UCLA with that first pick in Round 2. Schwesinger is known as a tackling machine, but had only one season as a starter in college, although he played quite a bit in his sophomore and junior seasons.
Schwesinger is extremely intelligent as a bioengineering major. He became an 8-time Athletic Director’s Honor Roll member while at UCLA.
But it was his tackling abilities that had Berry. In 2024, Schwesinger led the nation in solo tackles with 90. He was named First-Team All-American, First-Team All-Big Ten, and was a finalist for the Butkus Award and the Burlsworth Trophy. He tallied 136 total tackles, which ranked #3 nationally.
For Berry, there was something else: the unknown status of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.
The hopes for the defense were that JOK would be ready for training camp, or at the very least Week 1.
The injury occurred in the Week 8 contest against division foe the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns were up 20-17 with the final ticks of the third quarter running down. Ravens RB Derrick Henry took a pitch around the right end, headed upfield as Bush and S Grant Delpit lunged at Henry. JOK fought off a block and then collided with the 250-pound Henry by lowering his helmet. Henry’s shoulder plowed into JOK, who instantly hit the ground and gently rolled onto his side.
JOK was wearing a Guardian Cap, which may have stopped a concussion, but the injury was to JOK’s neck, which had gotten jammed downwards after the violent fender-bender. The end result was that Cleveland placed him on IR for at least four weeks. At the time of his injury, he was the Browns’ leading tackler with 61 and was ranked #19 in the league in total tackles.
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And despite being in rehab since last year, it is now apparent that JOK will not return at all.
On May 12, the Browns placed him on the PUP list, which makes him ineligible to play for the entirety of the 2025 season.
And now that DC Jim Schwartz knows what to expect regarding JOK, he will look to Schwesinger. Instead of letting him play meaningful defensive snaps and bring him along slowly, Schwartz will want the youngster to get into the lineup sooner rather than later.
This year.
And take one of the outside linebacker spots while Bush and Diabate compete for the other outside backer position.
Berry was clever to draft Schwesinger. And now that JOK will be gone for a year, the move appears even smarter.
Which offseason decision do you think reshaped the Browns the most?
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