Former Cleveland Browns to watch in the Championship Games

The Cleveland Browns missed the playoffs yet again, but many former players will be playing this weekend for a Super Bowl spot.

The Cleveland Browns were massively disappointing during the 2019 season. Achieving a worse record than the year before, firing head coach Freddie Kitchens after the year, and watching Baker Mayfield regress in just about every category sums it up well.

But that doesn’t mean they won’t be well represented in this years’ NFL Conference Championships. Every team still playing has at least one former Brown on their roster.

From my research, the San Francisco 49ers are the team with the least former Browns with one. The Kansas City Chiefs, Tennessee Titans, and Green Bay Packers all have at least two.

And that isn’t counting how many former coaches are still in the playoffs (Mike Pettine and Kyle Shanahan are the two most well-known). In many cases, these former Browns are vital contributors to their teams.

Some of the highlighted former players were here during the worst stretch in franchise history. Some were cap hits, some were hindered by injuries, and others just never made an impact here.

Of course, this isn’t a comprehensive list; I chose not to include guys like running back Dion Lewis and center Austin Reiter because they never actually played for the Browns. While they were on the Browns roster, they suffered injuries in the preseason, typically causing the Browns to release them.

However, it is interesting to think back to how different things might be if they were still on the team today. Here are a few well-known ex-Browns to keep an eye on and root for.