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Browns co-owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam will lead a group of the team’s top people attending the annual NFL spring meetings this week in Palm Beach, Fla.

Haslem has not spoken to the media since the end of last season, when the Browns finished with a disastrous, and very disappointing, 3–14 record.

I don’t know what he is going to say, but I know what I wish he would say, and it is this:

“Thank you for coming today. We very much appreciate your interest in, and your coverage of, our football team. Let’s get right to the point. As for last season, our record was totally unacceptable. That’s not how we want to represent ourselves to the rest of the league, and more importantly, to our fans, who are the greatest in the NFL. They fought hard to get this franchise back 30 years ago, and this was certainly not what they had in mind as the end result. Since I am the owner of the team, I am responsible for what happened last year. It can’t happen again. It was an embarrassment. We are trying to build a domed stadium, and that was not the kind of advertisement and promotion that we wanted to convey to everyone. I have made those points clear to everybody in our organization, and they fully understand. They are committed, just as I am committed, to get this thing fixed. We have spent the offseason thus far, and will continue, doing a thorough review of every aspect of the organization — we are leaving no stone unturned — to study how we might become better at what we do, and how we do it. Our goal here is not just to get into the playoffs, but also to win championships, so we have a long way to go in that endeavor based on how last year played out. The quickest way to turn this team around is to get the quarterback situation figured out. That’s obvious. Quarterback is the most important position in team sports, so it has the most impact on the won-loss record. We have not done a good job of that over the last several years, so if we want to improve, we must do better. Our quarterback room is pretty sparse right now, but we are in the process of making plans to fill that so that by the end of the draft, we have a plan to go forth and we have the people to go forth with. I have full confidence in General Manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski that they can get the right people in place.

“The draft is a great tool to get the players we need, and it begins at the beginning, with that No. 2 overall pick we have. There are a lot of ways, of course, we can go with that, and we have to figure out the best course of action. There are a number of players we could take there who we feel would have a tremendous impact on our club. You know all the names, and we are talking with all of them, trying to get a feel of who they are, and at the same time, studying their background and their abilities to see how they may fit in with us. We have to hit a home run with that first pick, and we have to hit the target with our remaining picks in the draft. Not every selection is going to work out. That’s just the truth of the matter. But we must limit our misses. The more players you hit on, the better you will become and the faster it will happen. Again, this is an area where we need to do better, and we know it.

Steve King