Cleveland Browns fans enjoying abnormal offseason

Cleveland Browns fans no longer living for the offseason

Alright Browns fans, take a deep breath and inhale the fresh spring air. Can you smell that? It’s the smell of the Cleveland Browns entering the new league year without change and turmoil gripping the organization.

The feeling of coming off a playoff run is one that is foreign to many Browns fans, but it certainly does change the offseason and the emotions that come with it. There’s no more hovering around your cell phone, waiting for a news alert of which free agent the Browns are bringing in. Sure the potential of bringing in a big-time talent is still an exciting prospect, but instead of being a necessity, it feels like more of a luxury.

For years the offseason has felt like the Super Bowl for the Browns, the one time of year filled more with hope and excitement than heartbreak and disappointment. This year though, Browns fans are still riding high off of the exhilaration of a fantastic playoff run.

Naturally, there remain plenty of areas the team can work to improve but the core of the team is intact and the continuity that has eluded this organization for decades finally seems to be taking hold. There was no coaching search, no hunt for a new general manager this year. There wasn’t even so much as a negative headline about one of our players finding his way into hot water.

There’s no denying that this offseason has felt different than any other I can remember. The mock drafts and free agent pieces are still being written, but suddenly they just don’t seem as important to me.

Maybe it’s the fact that Cleveland is picking in the mid-20s, maybe it’s knowing that the coaching staff will be returning in full. Or maybe it’s because I’m just so content to be a real playoff contender that I’m really just waiting for football season to return in late summer.

Whatever the reason, it’s a great feeling to be able to kick back enjoy the offseason instead of stressing over the importance of it. The Browns will have several opportunities to improve upon the roster from last season and they’re nearly certain to do so. Andrew Berry has demonstrated an ability to make prudent roster decisions and the success of he and Kevin Stefanski in changing the culture in Cleveland should assist in the team’s ability to attract top talent in free agency.

Despite the fact that the defense has a long way to go in order to match the production of the offense, it’s hard not to feel like this team has the potential to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender with just a couple of minor tweaks.

For the first time I can remember, the Browns are in a situation where they have a significant amount of talent on their roster that they should be focused on retaining. That’s not to say that the team won’t be active in searching for additional talent from outside the organization, but every move needs to be made with the impending costs of our own contracts in mind.

The offseason is naturally a time of year filled with intrigue and regardless of a team’s success, and that’s something that isn’t likely to change any time soon. But instead of living for this time of year, I join plenty of other Browns fans who are thrilled to be talking about ways to perfect the roster instead of completely overhauling it.