Last week, everything was going right for the Cleveland Browns, beating one of the best teams in the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens, but seven days later, Cleveland was hit with the reality that they are still one of the worst teams in the NFL.
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The Browns let the Los Angeles Chargers walk into their home Sunday afternoon and blow them out, losing 27-10. Now, with a few days before the NFL trade deadline, it looks like Cleveland will be selling.
The best thing Cleveland needs to do this week is trade away any veteran player who won’t have any impact on the roster over the next few years.
The Browns need as much draft capital as possible to get younger since their roster is one of the oldest in the league.
Cleveland Browns Need To Look Ahead
Even though Week Nine isn’t over yet, one major media outlet already published their takeaways from the early action on Sunday afternoon and had the Browns packing up and moving into next season.
Bleacher Report staff made many great points on why the Browns need to start looking toward the 2025 season, and here are their thoughts.
Last week, the Browns pulled off one of the most shocking upsets of the year. Jameis Winston provided an offensive spark, and Cleveland found a way to outlast the Baltimore Ravens because of it.
Unfortunately, it was back to bad football against the Chargers. Winston couldn’t find the same magic he had against Baltimore, and Jim Schwartz’s defense was gashed repeatedly, often because of blown coverage.
The loss was a stark reminder that this is a team in need of a rebuild and, ideally, a new quarterback of the future. Deshaun Watson is under contract for two more years, but if Cleveland continues to commit to him as the starter, it isn’t actively trying to win. Winning shouldn’t be the priority for the rest of 2024.
The rest of the season must be spent evaluating younger talent and identifying the biggest needs. The Browns have begun the evaluation process, giving second-year tackle Dwand Jones an opportunity to start on the left side.
The next 48 hours will likely be spent trying to sell off pieces and stockpile draft capital. Pass-rusher Za’Darius Smith might be the first veteran to follow Amari Cooper out of Cleveland.
“Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the current expectation is that Smith will be traded to Detroit tonight or tomorrow,” Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk wrote on Sunday.
The win over Baltimore gave fans something to cheer about, and so should Sunday’s loss. At 2-7, Cleveland is firmly in the mix for one of the top QB prospects in the 2025 draft.
The next time Cleveland Browns fans will be excited about this football team is when they select high in next year’s NFL Draft, and hopefully, they can find their quarterback of the future.
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It was a sad season for many Browns fans. Hopefully, next year will be a lot better, and they can maybe make it back to the playoffs.
