The Browns — General Manager Andrew Berry mostly, with the approval of owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam and head coach Kevin Stefanski, who had no choice other than to pretend and say he was all in, too, with his superiors — did this to themselves.
You know that, right? I mean, it’s so obvious.
Just as in the book and play, “Damn Yankees,” when Joe Hardy, tired of watching his beloved but bungling Washington Senators get beaten by the New York Yankees year after year after year, sold his soul to the devil for a championship, the Browns have done the same thing in trying to get to the Super Bowl for the first time, and win it, with their acquisition of quarterback Deshaun Watson, gleefully handing over three first-round picks in the NFL Draft to do it, even though they knew full well that he was the leader of the free world in the clubhouse when it came to the number of accusations of sexual abuse.
Now, only hours after a humiliating 33-17 opening day loss to the Dallas Cowboys at home in front of a full house at Huntington Bank Field and a national TV audience on FOX, comes yet another sexual accusation, this one reportedly more serious than all the rest.
The team is dead-last — No. 32 — in The Athletic’s NFL Power Rankings with a struggling offensive line that looks like a hospital ward, a quarterback who apoears as if he has never played the game and a defense that, though highly-rated, couldn’t stop the Cowboys no matter hard it tried.
All this because, at its very core root, the Browns chose to attach all of its chips to Watson, so when he does a deep-six, he takes the entire organization with it.
The Browns are on the hook for all of the $230 million they owe Watson in that death-knell of a fully-guaranteed deal. There’s absolutely nothing they can do about that. But — and this is a big “but” — if the powers that be are willing at some point to swallow their pride and admit, even if it’s just to themselves, that they botched the Watson thing really because they completely misevaluating who Watson is as both a player and a man and now must move on to save the franchise. They can go to one of their backups, veteran Jameis Winston and talented second-year man Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and play out the rest of the season with seemingly a much better chance to be successful. After all, continuing to try to execute the same failed plan and expect different results is a sign of insanity and a good way for the movers and shakers to get fired.
Now, can the Browns’ big guys swallow their pride?
I don’t think they can. I really don’t. We’ll see, though, won’t we?
But if they are considering being that stubborn and stupid — those two words are right next to each other in the dictionary for a reason, as former Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano always quips with a laugh, mixed in with a heaping helping dose of seriousness — and staying the course on this dead-end road for some inexplicable, poorly-thought-out reason, or reasons, then they should think twice. The Browns, and all NFL teams, don’t operate in a vacuum. They operate out in full view of their fans. Nothing is secret, or hidden.
These fans — the Cleveland Browns fans — are among the smartest in all of pro sports. They see what’s happening, and it’s sickening to them.
They see that Baker Mayfield, the quarterback the Browns cast into the dumpster after acquiring Watson, is continuing to tear it up for a team he has helped revitalize with his own revitalization, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He threw four touchdowns in last Sunday’s victory.
They see that Joe Flacco, the well-accomplished longtime veteran who came off his couch last season to rescue the Browns and lead them to the playoffs after the club had run into all kinds of injury problems at quarterback, is no longer with the team. He was allowed to walk in free agency in the offseason because the Browns’ deep thinkers were afraid that his presence on the sideline would threaten and intimidate Watson and make him nervous and incapable of performing to his ability level.
Are you kidding me?
Years from now, when all the smoke clears and everybody in this situation has moved on and the Browns — hopefully — have returned to some form of normalcy, the world — both football and otherwise because of the nature of Deshaun Watson’s transgressions — will shake its collective head and say in unison, “What were the Browns, both from a business standpoint and a moral one as well, possibly thinking?”
Browns fans are asking that now, and their voices will continue to get louder.
Steve King
Sept. 10, 2024
Browns sign WR Kadarius Toney to practice squad
BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns have signed WR Kadarius Toney to the practice squad. In addition, the team has released CB Justin Hardee Sr. and WR Tulu Griffin from the practice squad.
Toney (6-0, 193) is in his fourth NFL season out of Florida. Originally a first-round pick by the Giants in 2021, Toney has appeared in 32 career games. He has recorded 82 career receptions for 760 yards with three touchdowns, while adding 21 rushes for 119 yards and a score. He helped the Chiefs win the past two Super Bowls and recorded the longest punt return in Super Bowl history with a 65-yard return on Feb. 12, 2023. Toney will wear No. 87.
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