Cleveland Browns: Determining the importance of offseason grades
The Cleveland Browns have received high marks this offseason, but one has to wonder if any of that will matter if the team has another bad season.
The only way for Cleveland Browns fans to remain sane is to look for the positives. And in 2017, there have actually been more positives than negatives.
The front office brought in some top talent on both sides of the ball through free agency, while that trend continued during the NFL Draft. Adding three players in the first round who can play right away brought a smile to fans’ faces back in April.
All the moves, and lack of controversy, have led to national writers looking upon this offseason as a great one for the Browns. ESPN.com gave the Browns a “B+” grade, which is a nice change from the usual low grades.
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For some, that is a great sign. A high grade means the team is on the right track. Right?
Well, others look at this grade as meaningless. Grading a year without playing any games is hard to do, as winning games is the whole point of being an NFL franchise. Or so I have been told by people outside of Cleveland.
So once training camp begins, all this talk of grades will fade away as the talent on the field will become the most important thing to fans.
That all starts with the quarterback position, as another uncertain year at the most important position in sports could derail all the work done this offseason to improve the team.
It is an issue in the back of every Browns fan’s mind, but one that can patiently wait until training camp to reappear in its entirety.
These offseason grades may be forgotten about in a few months depending on how the team does on the field, but at least the Browns have moved away from being a total dumpster fire.
It takes some time to turn around an NFL franchise, and Sashi Brown and his team seem to be on the right track. Whether that remains true six months from now is why fans are excited to see what the season holds.