Year in and year out, members of the national media have considered the Cleveland Browns a punchline. They can't get their Browns jokes out soon enough, and even objectively good moves are often second-guessed or looked down on, just because they involved the Browns.
Of course, that's not to say that they haven't been right multiple times, but at this point, the narrative surrounding this organization looks lazy and prefabricated. That's why it's so nice to hear the tune change after the Browns' start to free agency.
In a recent appearance on the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, The Athletic's Zac Jackson shared his two cents on what GM Andrew Berry has done thus far. While he has some concerns about the ages of their recently signed players, he admitted that this was a significant step forward for the offensive line.
"You get another utility offensive lineman down the road, now, your group, on paper, is much better," Jackson said. "From a week ago, if you had to play a game with your five versus the five right now, it's upgraded a hundred times."
While still a work in progress, the Browns' new-look OL is finally getting some love
Of course, the Browns have yet to add a top-tier name to their roster. Elgton Jenkins is no longer at the peak of his powers, although moving him back to left guard might bring the best out of him again. As for Tytus Howard and Zion Johnson, they're serviceable players but not stars.
That said, it's become pretty clear that this team has a vision for that unit. They've signed three players who can patch things up and cover multiple spots, with versatility as the primary trait for George Warhop's unit. More than that, this shows that the team is serious about fixing its primary issues rather than getting fixated on the quarterback discourse, as it has so many times in the past.
The Browns acknowledged that no quarterback will be in a position to succeed behind a broken offensive line. It's all about taking care of the fundamentals first, so whoever is behind center has a fair shot to move the chains.
Organizations don't always do a great job of flipping the script, and the Browns have admittedly done more than enough to earn their reputation. That said, hearing talking heads finally change the way they talk about this team can have a bigger impact than people realize.
Todd Monken arrived in Cleveland with one clear goal: to build a culture of accountability and effort. The players sound bought in, but hearing people from outside the organization also acknowledge that this might be the beginning of something big should provide a significant motivational boost. The discourse often shapes reality.
The Browns still have plenty of work to do, and those durability concerns won't go away with aging offensive linemen signed to long-term deals. That said, this team is finally doing things the right way, and it's only right that they get some flowers for it.