Why the Cleveland Browns are real contenders in the 2021 season

The Cleveland Browns are coming off arguably the best season in franchise history since they made their return to Cleveland in 1999. It included an 11-5 record, a Wild Card appearance, a victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs, and bringing a playoff game against Kansas City Chiefs dynasty down to the final minutes.

When taking into consideration the adversity that the team went through during the season as well, it makes it even more impressive. This included missing most of the offense in a regular-season game against the New York Jets, missing their head coach of the year in a playoff game, Odell Beckham Jr. being sidelined for a majority of the year due to a major injury, and missing All-Pro running back Nick Chubb for weeks due to injury as well.

It’s incredible to think that next season could be even better for the Browns. General manager Andrew Berry has been making incredible move after incredible move in free agency. Bulking up the defense with signings of John Johnson, Takkarist McKinley, Troy Hill, Anthony Walker, and Malik Jackson. These are positional groups that needed to be greatly improved over the offseason, and Berry went out and did just that.

Along with this, after seeing the great draft classes that Berry has put together during his tenure as the Browns GM, Cleveland fans should be excited about the new crop of young talent that will be added to the team.

The Cleveland Browns also have one of the most complete offenses in the entire NFL. They spent most of their offseason last season bringing in one of the best free-agent linemen after the previous year, Baker Mayfield spent a lot of his time behind center running for his life to avoid pass rushers.

It showed immediately how great of an investment it was to go out and get those linemen. Mayfield had a career-low in hurries, QB pressures, and QB pressure percentage. Along with this, he had a career-high in average pocket time.

On top of the benefits that Mayfield reaped from the line, the Browns rushing attack may have been the biggest beneficiaries. Head coach Kevin Stefanski implemented a very run-heavy style of offense.

This would end up being just what the Cleveland Browns needed. With a two-headed monster at the running back position of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, the Browns were near the top of the league in rushing offense.

Seeing just how much the offensive line improved after Berry spent an offseason focusing on that position group should leave Browns fans excited to see how the linebacking core and secondary will look once the Browns suit up for the 2021 season.

If everything goes to Berry’s plans and the Browns do not face any major injuries, even with the tough schedule they will face, they still could end up being the team to beat in the AFC North and even Super Bowl contenders when things are all said and done.