The Cleveland Browns’ window of contention looked wide open a couple of years ago.
Even without quarterback Deshaun Watson available, they reached the playoffs and looked like a team with a strong foundation.
Unfortunately, things can change quite fast in the NFL.
That’s why, coming off a three-win season and with key players getting older, that window might be closing, according to NFL insider Albert Breer.
“Cleveland’s core is aging. Myles Garrett will turn 30 in December. David Njoku will be 29 next month. Denzel Ward turned 28 in April. Joel Bitonio is 33, and Jack Conklin and Wyatt Teller are 30. Nick Chubb, who will be 30 in December, is now gone,” Breer wrote. “The cold reality is that the Browns were at risk of getting old all at once, and without a safety net of young talent behind that core. … Bottom line: There aren’t a lot of guys in their mid-20s on the roster who you’d expect to be on the team a couple of years from now, a problem that would only grow as the stars got older.”
The situation is a byproduct of the Watson trade, which was made during the 2022 offseason.
The Browns had to give up a lot of draft capital to the Houston Texans, and that prevented Cleveland from getting the young talent it needed to build for the future.
In contrast, the Texans turned around almost overnight with some of the picks they got in return.
The Browns had a strong performance in the 2025 NFL Draft, addressing multiple areas of need and adding promising players who might lead the new era for the organization.
Now, if they fail to get going early in the season, they might consider moving on from some veterans and fully commit to a long-overdue rebuild.
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