Cleveland Browns: Top 3 offseason storylines to watch in 2019
By Randy Gurzi
There will be plenty of intrigue around the Cleveland Browns this season, but which three offseason storylines will dominate the headlines as we head to 2019?
Last offseason, all eyes were on the Cleveland Browns. This started with them owning the No. 1 and No. 4 picks in the 2018 NFL Draft, as well as the selections at No. 33 and 35. The ability to make so many moves that early in the draft had media outlets all over the nation chiming in on what general manager John Dorsey was going to do.
The attention being paid to the Browns grew as Dorsey then went against the grain with his first two picks. With Sam Darnold expected to go first, Cleveland threw a curveball and took Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield. He wasn’t the prototypical quarterback due to his height and had some questions about his maturity as well but Dorsey still was all in.
At No. 4, they again went a different route than expected. With all eyes on defensive end Bradley Chubb, Cleveland went with Denzel Ward, the cornerback from Ohio State. While Chubb would have been a great pick, Dorsey allowed their need for a corner to be the tiebreaker as he took the burner for OSU.
More. Comparing Baker Mayfield to Brett Favre. light
After the draft was done, Cleveland stayed at the forefront of the football world. This was due to them being the featured team on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks‘. The popular show picks one team every season to follow during training camp and this time, it was all about football in the Hard Land.
On this show, we saw the biggest storyline of the offseason begin to play out as head coach Hue Jackson and Todd Haley started a feud with one another. This started with the two disagreeing on how to handle players sitting out of practice and the beef between them seemed to continue into the regular season. It ended after eight games, as both were let go and replaced by Gregg Williams and Freddie Kitchens respectively.
This year, the Browns don’t seem to have any coaching feuds. They also didn’t have a first-round pick and won’t be on ‘Hard Knocks‘. This doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of good storylines to follow in the offseason, with these three taking center stage.