I firmly believe that this Browns regime is far ahead of where the previous one was – at any point of its existence.

Even with all the questions surrounding the viability of analytics as it pertains to the NFL, I am convinced that, with the benefit of having one of the best coaching staffs that they have had in a number of years, the Browns will somehow figure it out and get it right, and eventually turn this team around.

But right now, it’s getting hard and harder to stay firm in those convictions. What’s happening doesn’t look good. There’s no other way to say it – no nice way to say it. It looks like a repeat of the Ray Farmer-Mike Pettine, Joe Banner-Mike Lombardi, Mike Holmgren-Tom Heckert and Eric Mangini regimes, all of which were completely clueless.

The Browns are hemorrhaging good players – good players to them at least – since free agency started six days ago. And they’ve not really replaced any of them. It has the appearance of complete and utter chaos.

To make matters even worse, especially for the people in sales, all this comes with a reported Friday deadline for season ticket-holders to renew for next season.

Yikes!

Double-yikes!

The Browns are NOT a rudderless ship, drifting around without any direction. They have a plan. Every team has one. And in a rebuilding situation, where, of course, the Browns find themselves, that plan has to be both elaborate and precise. It is the supposed ticket – the blueprint — out of this mess.

Now is the time for someone in a position of authority in the organization to come out and espouse that plan, to articulate it clearly and fully so that everybody – players, fans, the media and all the rest – can understand it and watch it play out.

What is going on now is bad public relations. To let it continue on unchecked for another five minutes, let alone another day, is even worse PR.

The way to handle a difficult topic like this is to get out in front of it PR wise, to stay ahead of the curve and to address the brush fires before they even get started. Right now, though, those brush fires are quickly becoming raging infernos.

If the Browns are going to gut this thing down to the bare bones and, in essence, start over, then they need to say it. That would be a difficult pill to swallow for a tremendously loyal fan base whose patience is wearing thin. But the truth is always the best course of action. It won’t come back and bite you in the long run. Instead, it will benefit you.

Indeed, the truth doesn’t have to be a hammer with which to hit everybody over the head. It’s just the truth. It can be massaged and logically explained. That’s the least the Browns can do for their fans, and also for themselves.

It’s crazy for the Browns to say nothing and become a punching bag for every critic around the country. Someone has to stand up and defend the Browns, and it’s the Browns themselves who have to do it. No one else has the credibility to do it, because no one outside the organization knows what’s going on. It’s a mystery to everybody, even those supposedly in the no. That’s a disaster.

The Browns need to understand that this is not rocket science. We’re not splitting the atom here, or tracking terrorists. This is not a top-secret operation with the future of the free world hanging in a balance.

For goodness sakes, gentlemen, this is just a football team. This is about finding players who can pass, run and catch the ball, and also block and tackle.

Just tell us how you plan to find those guys. That’s all.

That’s not too much to ask.