2025 Cleveland Browns - 1- 5 (28 Viewers)

[MAC_32]

I am surprised to come into the Brown’s thread and see anyone defending Berry.

I'm surprised anyone hasn't figured out that HASLAM was the one who pushed for the Deshaun Watson trade, ALL of those draft picks and that guaranteed contract. That is why Berry and Stefanski get a chit.
Last draft, when Berry had a first-round pick, he made the most of it. He's been operating on a shoe-string draft budget for the past three years which is due to HASLAM.
AB has done wonders with trades.
Stefanski can't win without an O-Line or a franchise QB.
Oh, and one more thing.
Let's get this clear because it has been posted numerous times in detail.
Baker ran himself out of Cleveland. He needed time to mature.
It didn't come with his first team.
It didn't come with his second team.
It didn't come with the third team he was on.
It finally came after he SAT ANOTHER YEAR on his FOURTH team who had a solid O-Line and are teet-deep in WR talent and where they adjusted the offense for a short QB by allowing him to line up the majority of the time in the gun.
Last year's draft by AB is already producing and he's got another 1st to add to that draft next year.

Wow. Okay, didn’t realize his level of support from the fans.

While I agree with Bracie re AB, we're a minority. Most fans ran them out of town in their minds years ago...just like they did Baker.

As the ole' saying goes, if management acts like its fans, soon enough they'll be sitting with them.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

Wow. Okay, didn’t realize his level of support from the fans.

Put yourself in Berry's shoes from a few years back when you were coming off a playoff run only a few years removed from 0-16.
You have the O-Line, the RB, the TE, good nuff WRs and had the top-pick on what 'should have been' your franchise QB. The defense wasn't great but good-nuff.
The QB shows up fat and out of shape going into TC and no surpise the fat out of shape QB gets hurt and plays terrible. He refuses to take care of the injury because he's on his last year of his rookie contract and he's been making noise about a big extension, so he plays through.
He didn't do the minimum work in the offseason, and it cost the entire team. The team has a losing record, primarily due to the immature QB.
THEN he demands the second highest contract in the league. The GM has not liked what Baker had done and had gotten word of his outrageous contract demands so he began working on a deal for a younger QB who had already established himself as a franchise QB.
Baker hears of it and demands a trade.
AB had been putting in the work on a deal and had one in place. Two 1st round picks and a large contract extension that WASN'T fully guaranteed. Should have been enough but Deshuan's team had many teams interested, ONE OF THEM THE STEELERS who dropped out pretty early.
There were three teams left standing.
Deshuan's team made AB's offer public to leverage to up the ante and Watson said he wouldn't play in Cleveland. Baker had already burnt bridges, but AB publicly kept the door open.
HASLAM panicked thinking Baker had already walked, and he didn't have a QB so he stepped-in with THREE 1st round picks plus extra picks AND the fully guaranteed contract.
HASLAM'S PANICKED MOVE KILLED THE TEAM.
Complete rebuild due to HASLAM.
Jimmy knows he made his bed, AB and Stefanski have been the public fall guys, neither can do their jobs correctly due to HASLAM's panicked move.
Had Jimmy let AB do his job, AB's offer would have been rejected. AB would have still had Baker under contract for one year and would have kept him. Baker still needed maturation, so I doubt he'd suddenly 'get-it' but AB would have had three 1st round picks and tons of cap to make moves.
It really could have worked out if Jimmy Haslam had not panicked and forced the Deshuan Watson trade.