The Cleveland Browns are done (and that's a good thing)

I don’t think it’s really going out on a limb at this point, or being a defeatist. The Browns are done this season.

They just are.

They’ve lost all heart, been emotionally drained, and physically beaten down. That being said, there will be no intentional tanking, that’s just not how the NFL works for the most part.

What it does mean is with the team this far out of it this early in the season, expect another year old change in what is becoming an all-to familiar routine for the Browns since coming back in the league in 1999.

I firmly believe Ray Farmer isn’t going anywhere. Jimmy Haslam likes him, and he has a much better record than most want to believe he does. Farmer’s apparent failures are pretty well documented and widely discussed on most Browns-oriented social media, so what has he done right?

Drafting Joel Bitonio, Christian Kirksey, and Pierre Desir in 2014 to start. Also bringing in Isaiah Crowell and Taylor Gabriel the same year. In 2015 he drafted Danny Shelton, Cam Erving, Duke Johnson, and Xavier Cooper, all of which are contributing and improving every week. Farmer has also brought in Donte Whitner, Karlos Dansby, Andrew Hawkins, and Tramon Williams.

I firmly believe that stability is one of the most important things the Cleveland Browns have lacked since coming back in the league (the other being a serviceable quarterback) and a major reason for the constant floundering. However, Mike Pettine looks like a deer in the headlights more and more every week the season progresses.

He’s lost, in over his head, and it’s certainly looking like he’s losing the locker room and the fan base. Keeping a staff in place only for the purpose of stability if the staff is incompetent is as bad as cleaning house every other year.

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The key to stability is keeping people in place who deserve to be there. Haslam has shown in the past that if someone is in over his head, or not leading the franchise in the direction that it needs to be going he’ll pull the trigger and bring in someone else quickly, and without regard to outside appearances.

All this being said, I think Pettine is done. I chuckle to myself when I see people saying things like ‘who wants to come to coach in Cleveland with this dysfunctional franchise’? There are numerous coordinators and position coaches all over the league who would do anything for a head coaching gig, even one in Cleveland.

Not to mention the (literally) thousands of college coaches, coordinators, and position coaches who are working 100 hours a week for a shot at the largest stage. Bottom line: There are plenty of candidates out there to take over for the beleaguered Pettine.

There are a few names out there right now that you could see being seriously considered for the Browns coaching job if Pettine doesn’t make it to the 2016 season.

The offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears Adam Gase has to be one of the leading candidates as his name has been on the top of head coaching search lists since he was in Denver with head coach John Fox.

The next name that comes to mind is Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin. He is a good offensive mind in college which may translate to the NFL who just so happens to be pretty good with quarterbacks as well. The fact that he was Johnny Manziel‘s coach in college honestly doesn’t even play into this as I don’t believe Manziel sticks around after this year, which pains me to say.

One last name I’ll throw out there is Kyle Shanahan. Crazier things have happened.

The Browns are pretty bad. Strike that. Really bad. In my opinion this is one of the most talented teams the Browns have had top to bottom since returning to the league in 1999, so it’s really sad to see them spiral like they seem to be doing. The one good thing about moving in the direction the team seems to be heading is that it may result in the one thing that the Browns have been looking for since coming back in the league, and just haven’t been able to get. A franchise quarterback.

The Cleveland Browns are done (and that’s a good thing)

By Brandon Lambert | Oct 27, 2015

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