Although they still have a long, long way to go, there are indications that the Browns might be headed in he right direction ever so slightly.

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They are 28th in a NFL.com ranking of the 32 teams coming out of the big wave at the beginning of free agency. That’s three spots better than they were five weeks ago coming out of the Super Bowl.

The website likes the fact the Browns focused on their big needs along the offensive line, but pointed out they still have a lot of holes at wide receiver and possess that muddled quarterback situation.

They are ranked fourth in the AFC North. Baltimore has leapfrogged nine slots to sixth, while the Pittsburgh Steelers, who held on to beat the Ravens in the regular-season finale last season to edge them out for the division title, stayed almost the same, dropping one spot to 13th. The Cincinnati Bengals moved up four spots to 21st.

Behind the Browns are, in order, the Las Vegas Raiders, the Miami Dolphins, the New York Jets and the Arizona Cardinals last.

The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are first, just ahead of their NFC West rivals, the second-ranked Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers (fifth). The Buffalo Bills are fourth, the defending AFC champion New England Patriots seventh, the Houston Texans eighth, the Chicago Bears ninth and the Philadelphia Eagles 10th.

We’ll see where the Browns and the rest of the league’s teams are at following the NFL draft April 23–25 in Pittsburgh.

Steve King