We mention this from time to time here because it needs to be mentioned from time to time here, or at least somewhere.

And now is as good of a time as any for that time to do it again.

That is, the Browns need to watch how their two major pro sports teams buddies in the Cleveland market, the Cavaliers and Guardians, do business so they can learn from them and do their business the same way.

Yes, the Cavs ran out of gas against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals this season, but at least they got that far. The Finals are the NBA’s equivalent to the AFC Championship Game, something the Browns have not been in since . . . gulp, 1989. The Cavs were also in the playoffs the three previous seasons. Two years ago, they had the best regular-season record in the East.

As for the Guardians, the two-time defending American League Central champions are in first place again. They have made it to the postseason nearly every year for the last decade. A small-market franchise that is greatly restricted in what it can do with its payroll in Major League Baseball’s ridiculous financial structure, the Guardians do more with less than anybody.

The Browns would do well to copy the business practices of both the Guardians and Cavs, but they won’t because General Manager Andrew Berry is pompous, stubborn and unwilling to look into the mirror. He always thinks he’s the smartest person in any room into which he walks, and when you have that belief, what is usually the case is that just the opposite is true.

So, the Browns can stand there and puff their chest out because, in 2025, Berry at long last got one NFL Draft right. Whoopdee-do! But the fact of the matter is that they still have a lot of work to do to get to where they want to go. They have three more seasons before they move into their new indoor stadium in 2029, and they can ill afford to stumble through the door with a string of bad teams dating back to 2024.

All this is the truth, Browns. So, are you listening?

I didn’t think so. I am hardly surprised.

Steve King