Cleveland Browns called a Top-5 team in terms of future projection

Bleacher Report’s Chris Roling has the Cleveland Browns as a Top-5 team when it comes to setting themselves up to be contenders in the future

2019 should be a good season for the Cleveland Browns. After finishing the prior year with a 5-3 mark in the second half, they’re suddenly a team to pay attention to in the AFC North — and with good reason.

Cleveland suddenly has their quarterback of the future in Baker Mayfield, the No. 1 overall pick out of Oklahoma who set the NFL record for touchdown passes by a rookie with 27 last season. As impressive as that was, he even did so in just 13 starts as former head coach Hue Jackson wanted to keep him on the bench simply for the sake of doing so.

As good as Mayfield was in 2018, he projects to be even better this season as he’s the unquestioned leader. He also has a new No. 1 receiver in Odell Beckham, Jr. who came over in a trade with the New York Giants.

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Those were some of the main reasons Chris Roling of Bleacher Report placed the Browns at No. 4 in his Top-10 rankings for teams with the best future projection. While he did praise the offense, he also was complimentary of the defense.

Roling pointed to the defensive line which was revamped this offseason as Sheldon Richardson and Olivier Vernon will now join Myles Garrett and Larry Ogunjobi. However, the biggest takeaway from his piece is that Roling sees no reason the team can’t continue their success and keep any player they want for the long haul.

"“The hype machine backing Cleveland at least makes sense at this juncture. Thanks to the (mostly) long-term outlook they’ve applied to the rebuild, the Browns are in a good financial spot too, which has them prepared to dole out big contracts if the roster realizes its potential.” — Roling, Bleacher Report"

The Browns turnaround since their 0-16 campaign in 2017 has been nothing short of fantastic. It’s been fun to watch them become a team worth paying attention to as they finally have an identity thanks to players such as Mayfield, OBJ, and Garrett.

They still haven’t won anything yet, which will hopefully change this coming season. The good news is, if they do make their run, it doesn’t look as though it will be a short-lived one as this roster is set up for the long haul.