The Browns are in second place in the AFC North — at least in one respect.

Sportsillustrated.com recently gave them a grade of B — second-best in the division — for their offseason work thus far, including mostly with the NFL Draft and free agency, along with any staff changes. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in first place with a grade of A, while the Cincinnati Bengals are third with a B-minus and the defending division champion Baltimore Ravens are last with a C-plus.

I would give the Browns a B-minus, tying them with Cincinnati. They didn’t do much in free agency, and they did not have a first-round draft pick. That limited them, to be sure, but they weren’t nearly as aggressive in the draft as I thought they should have been. You can only get better by taking action. Inactivity is bad activity. You don’t stay the same if you stand pat. Instead, you go backward. But we’ll see.

Regardless, if you want to rank those teams in just about any category, you’ll see that they are very close. That’s why the AFC North is the most competitive, and the toughest, division in the league.

In one other note, the most interesting part of the rookie class every year, whether it’s the Browns or another team, are the free agents. In not being drafted and as such being at the very bottom of the roster, they are coming out of nowhere and trying to make their mark. The Browns are always trying to find their next Joshua Cribbs or Robert Jackson.

Steve King