The Cleveland Browns posted an 11-win season in 2023, and they must have felt fat and sassy going into 2024. That’s how it appeared during training camp last year, according to one beat writer. Previewing this year’s Browns camp, beat writer Zac Jackson first provided a postmortem on the previous edition.
“Last year’s Browns jogged through what was probably the least competitive training camp I’ve seen”, he wrote. “Many players were signed to rich long-term contracts, contributing to a fat-and-happy feel for a team coming off an 11-win season. Nobody had a bigger contract than Watson, who spent most of last August throwing incompletions and didn’t play in any of the team’s three preseason games”.
Two years ago, the Browns felt they had finally found the recipe for success. Even with Deshaun Watson at quarterback, they were finding ways to win—mostly on defense. They went 5-1 in Watson’s games, but after his injury, they had no answers. P.J. Walker, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and Jeff Driskel went a combined 2-4 and threatened to derail the season.
Then an unlikely hero emerged from the rubble in the form of Joe Flacco. Finally returning competence and professionalism to the quarterback position, the Browns went on a four-game winning streak. By the final game of the regular season, they secured a postseason berth.
Granted, they failed spectacularly in a blowout loss in the Wild Card Round that featured Flacco throwing two pick-sixes. But the Browns felt they now had the ingredients they needed to cook. Only their chef appeared to have lied on his resume.
Deshaun Watson started seven games for the Browns last season prior to his season-ending injury. He posted a 1-6 record and played some of the worst football in the entire NFL. Even with Jameis Winston replacing him, they only finished the season with three wins. And rather than drafting a quarterback or two-way sensation, Travis Hunter, they traded back to add a defensive lineman.
One would hope that nobody is coming off a three-win season feeling good, but this is Browns Country. After staving off the threat of a trade request from Myles Garrett and admitting that they massively erred with the Deshaun Watson trade, they just want to move forward.
But will the Browns have a greater sense of urgency in training camp this year, and how much of a difference will that make? They brought back Flacco, who at least can provide some leadership. He is a Super Bowl champion, so he knows how a successful team practices. I’m sure if he saw their training camp last year, he would have had something to say.
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