The 3-10 Cleveland Browns aren't having the year they hoped for as they enter the final quarter of the regular season, but some familiar faces are expected to return for the 2025 season.
Reigning NFL Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski, general manager Andrew Berry and quarterback Deshaun Watson are all expected back for the Browns next season, sources say. Stefanski and Berry will be at the controls next year, but it's unclear what Watson's role will be as he recovers from Achilles surgery.
Stefanski and Berry signed contract extensions in the offseason, and owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have planned for their return in 2025 all season long.
Stefanski created a stir last month when Mike Vrabel, a Browns consultant this season, was moved to the sidelines during games this season. Vrabel will be a head-coaching candidate who will get multiple interviews this cycle, with early indications with the Bears, Saints and Jets that there will be interest. If the Raiders job opens, Vrabel has been considered a strong candidate there due to his ties to part-owner Tom Brady.
But sources have shot down any notion that Vrabel would take Stefanski's job in Cleveland. And the Browns have anticipated Vrabel will be a head coach elsewhere within a few months.
Vrabel's sideline presence came weeks after Stefanski ceded play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey in Week 8. Some took all these together as evidence Stefanski would be out, but that is not the case.
Haslam told ESPN earlier this week at the NFL league meetings that he supported Stefanski and Berry and that this season has been "a little perplexing" following a playoff run last year.
A regression for the Browns this year, especially with their defense after a historic run in 2023, was anticipated within some parts of the organization. The Browns hoped they would get more consistent and better quarterback play in 2024 going into an always-difficult AFC North, but that wasn't the case even before Watson tore his Achilles midseason.
"Monday Night Football" announcer Troy Aikman called Watson "an albatross" around the neck of the Browns earlier this month. He questioned whether the Browns should have moved to Jameis Winston earlier in the season, though sources have pointed out since Winston took over, the improved offense also came at a time when Dorsey began calling plays. How much credit one move deserves over the other may never be known.
The Browns traded three first-round picks to acquire Watson in 2022, and they inked him to a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract. The deal, signed amid more than two dozen allegations of sexual misconduct against Watson but without any criminal charges, has been widely panned across the league.
Since joining the Browns in 2022, Watson has played in just 19 games. His 80.7 passer rating ranks just above Kenny Pickett (78.7) and just below Gardner Minshew (83.2) among eligible quarterbacks. But despite quarterbacks like Winston and Joe Flacco performing better with the Browns than Watson, his contract makes it nearly impossible for the Browns to get out of in 2025 if they wanted to.
A post-June 1 release of Watson would bring about $119 million in dead money, which would be the most in NFL history by far. Sources have indicated the Browns will not release Watson in the offseason, and he likely wouldn't be able to pass a physical until late in the summer at the earliest.
"Really our focus with Deshaun -- I would say for any player with a season-ending injury and a major injury -- is first and foremost with the recovery and to make sure he gets healthy from the Achilles injury," Berry said in November. "Everything else we'll deal with at a later moment."
The Browns haven't tipped their hand about their real offseason plans. Berry's bye week press conference last month left much information to be desired, though surely the Ivy Leaguer did that intentionally.
Because of Watson's injury history in Cleveland, as well as the severity of this particular injury at a position as important as quarterback, sources believe the Browns aren't relying today on Watson being ready for Week 1 of next season. Nor will anyone say if Watson would even be the starter when healthy. A weak free agent quarterback class could lead to the Browns re-signing Winston, who is playing on a one-year deal worth up to $4 million and could command more with a strong finish to the season.
Major decisions will come this offseason on several top players. Cornerback Greg Newsome enters 2025 on his fifth-year option with a cap hit of $13.37 million, and an extension is possible. Jedrick Wills has played in 13 of a possible 30 games since the start of 2023, and he's set to be an unrestricted free agent in March.
Running back Nick Chubb is in the final year of his deal that got restructured this offseason after his gruesome leg injury last year. Chubb, who turns 29 next month, will have a full offseason to train rather than rehab, and there's a strong belief Cleveland wants to retain Chubb both for his playmaking abilities and what he means to the culture of the franchise.
And then there's Myles Garrett, the soon-to-be-29-year-old reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year. There was interest around Garrett near the trade deadline, but the Browns had less-than-zero interest in moving him.
But what happens if Cleveland opts for a rebuild in 2025? He's due an $18.5 million roster bonus that triggers on the fifth day of the league year, but that mid-March deadline isn't necessarily significant. If the Browns intend to hit reset, they could pay that roster bonus and still trade Garrett in a deal that would net them even greater draft-pick compensation for 2025.
Lastly, there's a question of whether the Haslams have the capacity for a rebuild. Jimmy Haslam has shown more patience with his NFL team in recent years compared to his early tenure as an owner. Would he have the stomach for such a reset in 2025?
All these questions will be answered in due time. But at least the Browns know who will be at the controls getting them answered.