How much a one successful season can change.
Kevin Stefanski, the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, was under intense pressure going into the 2023 season following a 7-10 performance the year before and two straight losing campaigns. There were concerns about general manager Andrew Berry risking the franchise’s future to sign quarterback Deshaun Watson, who only appeared in six games in 2022, the most of them ineffectively, and then blowing a lot of money on the defense.
Watson had season-ending shoulder surgery last year, which prevented him from becoming any better. He only appeared in six games this year. However, the Browns overcame five different starting quarterbacks to complete the season with the best defense in football based on total yards surrendered. They also secured an AFC playoff spot with 11 wins.
Stefanski was named the NFL’s Coach of the Year, and according to reports from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler in Las Vegas the day before the Super Bowl, he and Berry are expected to get contract extensions.
On Saturday, February 10, Fowler said, “Expect contract extensions to occur for Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry sometime this offseason.” “The five-year contracts for both players are scheduled to end following the 2024 season. They put on a strong playoff drive last year, and it appears they will stay in Cleveland for the foreseeable future.
As the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award winner the same night Stefanski did, quarterback Joe Flacco was perhaps the main factor in Cleveland’s success in the late season and postseason.
According to Pro Football Reference, Flacco finished the regular season as a starter with a 4-1 record, 1,616 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. Following disastrous starting experiences for backup quarterbacks PJ Walker and youngster Dorian Thompson-Robinson, such output came on a $2.5 million salary.
While Stefanski gets some credit for how he used the quarterback and capitalized on his skills for play-action passing and moving the ball downfield, Berry deserves some credit for signing Flacco to a solid contract. Nevertheless, if they hadn’t struck it lucky and surfed the Flacco wave to the conference’s top Wildcard berth, neither man’s future would probably be as safe.
In 2024 and the next two seasons, Watson’s $230 million fully-guaranteed deal will be the Browns’ biggest concern. Next season, the salary cap hit on that deal will increase to $64 million annually, where it will stay for the duration of the contract.
About $33 million of that money can be postponed by Cleveland, which will eventually cause a significant dead money penalty to the Browns’ salary limit. The two largest criticisms of Berry’s time in Cleveland are without a doubt the trade he made to acquire Watson, which included three first-round picks (2022, 2023, and 2024), and the agreement he made with Watson.
Because of his contract, Watson is in line to start for the Browns to begin next season despite how well Flacco vibed with the fans and his teammates, not to mention how well he played down the stretch. That is ostensibly Stefanski’s call, though the wild investment the franchise as a whole made in Watson two years ago inevitably plays a role in all of the head coach’s decisions where the quarterback is concerned.
For Watson, as well as the organization’s overall trajectory, the 2024 campaign will either make or break everything. He needs to play well and stay on the field. The Browns need to make a run at the AFC North Division title and make a postseason comeback.
Berry and Stefanski have an obligation to the fan base to acknowledge their error and move on if those things don’t occur. And whatever of the kinds of extensions Berry and Stefanski sign in the upcoming months, they could not be around for Cleveland long if they don’t make those admissions and the reforms that follow, should they become necessary.
