NewzBEREA, Ohio (AP) — The Cleveland Browns made the postseason the last time they had a first-year head coach on the sidelines. If Jimmy Haslam has the same thing in mind for Todd Monken, he’s not saying it publicly. The Browns owner said after Friday’s practice he has “improved expectations” for the upcoming season.
The franchise went 5-12 last season and 3-14 in 2024 after making the playoffs in 2023. “I would say this, and we never do this, but I think the odds are for us to win 5 1/2 games. “I think we have made giant strides in our talent level the last two years.
And it takes these young guys a lot of time. I think we could have a chance to start double-digit first- and second-year players. We’re really excited about the roster we’ve assembled.” Any sign of playoff contention or improvement would be welcome.
The Haslams assumed ownership in October 2012, but didn’t change the head coach or general manager until the end of the season. Cleveland has a 73-139-1 regular-season mark since 2013, the second-worst in the NFL. In those 14 seasons, the Browns have had only two winning seasons and finished with double-digit losses eight times, including going 0-16 in 2017.
The best year Cleveland has had under the Haslam regime was 2020, when Kevin Stefanski was hired as coach. The Browns were 11-5 and won their first playoff game since the 1993 season at Pittsburgh before losing at Kansas City. It helped that Cleveland had an established quarterback that year in Baker Mayfield.
This year, the team goes into camp with Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders vying for the starting job. The relationship between Haslam and Watson has improved since Haslam said at the 2025 owners’ meetings that the team “took a big swing and miss” when they sent three first-round picks to Houston for Watson in 2022 and signed him to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal many consider one of the worst trades and contracts in NFL history. Watson has played in only 19 games with the Browns.
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