5 things that went wrong for the Cleveland Browns in 2019

The Cleveland Browns did not have the season the season they were expecting to in 2019, and there were several noticeable things that went wrong, especially for John Dorsey.

Although last year John Dorsey was the toast of Cleveland after bringing stars Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb and Denzel Ward to the Cleveland Browns, 2019 was a very bad year. A number of key decisions did not go the way that fans had hoped for, and certainly not the way that Dorsey and the Haslams wanted them to go.

It may not have been the fault of any one person, but the team was definitely much weaker than it was last year, and the Browns are forced to struggle for answers.

Last year, we were all saying “In Dorsey We Trust,” and with good reason. The Browns emerged from the record-setting 3-36-1 Reign of Terror under coach Hue Jackson, and with Dorsey calling the shots in the second half of the season, interim head coach Gregg Williams went 5-3, aided and abetted by Freddie Kitchens as offensive coordinator. That may not sound like much, but there has not been a Browns coach with an over-.500 career record since Marty Schottenheimer.

Baker Mayfield`caught fire under Williams and Kitchens, and the offensive line went from one of the worst in terms of giving up sacks and quarterback hits to one of the best. That level of turnaround was virtually unprecedented in NFL history.

It was thrilling when Dorsey made bold trades to bring a legitimate superstar in the form of Odell Beckham, Jr., the charismatic one-handed catch artist and good friend of college teammate, Jarvis Landry. Other stars like Olivier Vernon and Sheldon Richardson were brought in.

However, despite the addition of talent and increase in payroll, the quality of the team went down significantly. What happened? Some answers are suggested below, starting with the salary cap situation, which was grossly mismanaged.