Browns locked in for ‘next 120 days’: Coach, draft and a QB

BEREA, Ohio — Jimmy Haslam stood in front of a Cleveland Browns backdrop that was situated in the lobby of the team’s facility Monday morning, about 45 minutes removed from announcing he had fired Kevin Stefanski as head coach.

Less than six months ago, he and his wife and co-owner, Dee, spoke to local reporters at the onset of training camp, and Jimmy said he remained «very supportive» of both Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry.

But on this Monday — the day after the 2025 regular season concluded — he was explaining why they decided to part ways with Stefanski but retain Berry, who arrived in Cleveland alongside Stefanski in 2020.

In late July, Jimmy Haslam said the team would need to rebuild the foundation of its roster, which included identifying a franchise quarterback. He acknowledged a quick turnaround might not be on the horizon — but added that another three-win season like 2024 «won’t cut it.»

Las Vegas Raiders (13) during that span.

But the work doesn’t stop there. Berry, whom Haslam praised for delivering a «cornerstone» 2025 draft class, will not only lead the head coaching search but will also be tasked with finding what has been an elusive franchise quarterback, either via free agency in March or in April’s draft. Forty-two passers have started for the organization since 1999, by far the most in the NFL.

«The next 120 days are crucial for the organization, OK?» Jimmy Haslam said. «We’ve got to find the right head coach, we’ve got to be efficient again in free agency, we have 10 draft picks, including two No. 1s, we have four of the top four picks in the top three rounds, OK? And we’ve got to get really good players who are really good people again, we’ve got to be opportunistic if trade opportunities come along.

«We are solely focused on having a great 120 days so we can start winning games around here.»

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A PEEVED MYLES Garrett lamented another loss on Oct. 12.

The Browns had just endured their third straight defeat, a 23-9 road loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers that dropped them to 1-5. For much of the game, Cleveland’s elite defense kept Pittsburgh in check. The offense, with rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel making his second career start, wasn’t able to manufacture enough points to support the other side of the ball.

«Losing the same way every time is frustrating as hell,» Garrett said from Pittsburgh’s interview room at Acrisure Stadium.

While Jimmy Haslam said there was no «breaking point» in the decision to fire Stefanski, the recurring theme of an offense unable to carry its weight became present in the Browns’ struggles over the past two seasons.

Minnesota Vikings. During his first four seasons leading the Browns, Stefanski shepherded one of the league’s best running games with Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb and a stout offensive line; Cleveland averaged 139.6 rushing yards per game during that stretch, third most in the NFL.

Over the past two seasons, though, Chubb’s production diminished following a 2023 knee injury and he departed for the Houston Texans last offseason. The offensive line also declined through age and injuries, leaving the offense a shell of itself.

The Browns made multiple staff changes during that time, bringing in Ken Dorsey as offensive coordinator in 2023 to help shape a Deshaun Watson-centric offense and then firing him after one season to promote Tommy Rees. The team also shuffled through two offensive line coaches in an attempt to replace respected position coach Bill Callahan. None of the changes materialized into a productive offense, as the Browns averaged a league-low 15.8 points over the past two seasons.

The quarterback position has been at the center of Cleveland’s issues. Fifteen different quarterbacks started under Stefanski, including seven in the past two seasons. The one who was acquired to lift a roster of in-their-prime cornerstones — Watson — has failed to live up to the expectations that came with a fully guaranteed $230 million contract. Watson, for whom the Browns traded three first-round picks to the Texans in March 2022, has played in only 19 games because of suspension and multiple injuries. The latest ailment, a torn right Achilles tendon sustained on Oct. 20, 2024, kept Watson sidelined for the 2025 season.

Last March at the league’s annual meeting, Jimmy Haslam called the Watson trade a «big swing-and-miss.»

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Watson’s lack of availability and production — his 33.1 Total QBR since making his debut in Cleveland would rank last among qualified passers — led the Browns to remodel their quarterback room last offseason. The team signed two veterans — Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett — and drafted Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in the third and fifth rounds, respectively.

The signing of Flacco marked a reunion with the quarterback who helped save the Browns’ 2023 season after Watson sat out the final eight games because of shoulder surgery. Flacco, in part because of a hamstring injury to Pickett in the first week of camp, won a quarterback competition and opened the 2025 season as QB1 (Pickett was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders ahead of roster cutdown day).

There was familiarity with Flacco and a return to Stefanski’s scheme after tweaking it to fit Watson’s skill set the previous year. With that came hope for an offensive resurgence that could complement a defense led by Garrett — who went on to record 23 sacks and break the NFL’s single-season sack record.

Instead, Flacco struggled behind poor blocking and a young, unproven pass-catching corps. Cleveland started 1-3 and benched Flacco on Oct. 1, turning to Gabriel ahead of a Week 5 game against the Vikings in London. Six days later, the Browns traded Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals — a move that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin called «shocking» before he faced the veteran passer in Week 7.

«Andrew Berry must be a lot smarter than me or us because it doesn’t make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your opening-day starter to a division opponent that’s hurting in that area, but that’s just my personal feelings,» Tomlin said.

Stefanski, himself, said the Flacco trade «took us by surprise.» The Bengals, looking for a starter after Joe Burrow went down in Week 2, called Berry about a possible trade. With Flacco already benched and Cleveland turning to one of its young rookies, it was an opportunity to acquire draft capital for a player the Browns probably weren’t turning back to, and it gave the 40-year-old Flacco a chance to keep playing.

The trade was perceived locally as a possible rift between Stefanski and Berry, but Jimmy Haslam pushed back on that Monday, as well as any notion the Stefanski-Berry relationship had soured.

«Is there tension in the building? Of course. I mean, this is a hard business and there’s lots of stuff going on,» Haslam said. «The two of them work together extremely well, extremely well. … If anybody says this is dysfunctional or the two of them did not work well [together], that’s dead wrong.»

Berry on Monday said his relationship with Stefanski «goes beyond football» and called him «family.»

Baltimore Ravens, sidelined him and opened the door for Sanders to make his debut. Sanders, the No. 144 pick, led Cleveland to a road win against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12 and started the final seven games, but the Browns dropped their next four and were eliminated from playoff contention in a Week 14 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

The defeat on Dec. 7 saw Sanders rally the Browns late with two touchdown drives, but after the second score, he was taken off the field for the potential tying 2-point conversion try. The Browns turned to their often-used Wildcat formation, but the play went awry with rookie running back Quinshon Judkins seemingly failing to execute a reverse and then tossing an aimless pass across the field.

After the game, Stefanski — who had given up playcalling duties over a month ago — took the blame for the failed attempt.

«I’m responsible for all of it,» he said.

Jacksonville Jaguars. Berry said the team would have «ample cap room» when free agency opened and that the offseason would be focused on addressing the offense, with holes all along the offensive line and at wide receiver.

Quarterback, again, will be a major question. Berry was noncommittal on the Browns’ 2026 starter and said Monday the team would explore the QB market — with the new coach having input in the matter. He also said he expected Watson, who has one year remaining on his five-year deal, to be on the roster next season.

LIVE: Jimmy Haslam speaks to the media https://t.co/CpWyeMbyeu

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) January 5, 2026

«At the end of the day, the National Football League is a quarterback league, right? If you have an elite quarterback in this league, it allows you to be a little bit more sustained in your success,» said left guard Joel Bitonio, the team’s longest-tenured player at 12 seasons and who is mulling retirement this offseason. «… Until you find one that’s stable and can lead your team, it’s going to be hard to not ride the roller coaster of wins and losses.»

The first objective, though, will be to find the next head coach to work alongside Berry and help develop a young roster.

«There’s nothing more distasteful than losing an NFL game,» Jimmy Haslam said. «And it’s finite — you either win or you lose. And Kevin did a lot of good things here over his time period with us. It was an extremely difficult decision we made.»

Days after Garrett stewed over another frustrating loss to the Steelers in mid-October, safety Grant Delpit echoed his teammate’s sentiments.

«Obviously, it’s frustrating,» Delpit said. «You do all you can do to stay together as a team, try to get that winning feeling back. I don’t even know what winning feels like. I forgot that feeling. It’s really just chasing that feeling and trying to do everything you can to get that back and not turning on each other because that can happen, that’s your season. So hopefully, just staying together and find a way to get one win so it can multiply.»