We’ve officially reached the point where no one associated with the Cleveland Browns — not even those on the roster — seems to know what’s coming at the conclusion of the 2025 season.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski is on the hot seat (at least with Browns fans) following a brutal stretch of just six wins in 30 games. The latest one, a 31-29 loss at home to the previously one-win Tennessee Titans, shouldn’t be sitting well with anyone, ownership included.
Defensive end Myles Garrett, on the verge of the NFL’s single-season sack record with 20 sacks in 13 games, could once again explore a way out of Cleveland with the team now set to miss the playoffs for the seventh time in his nine seasons.
Rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders, meanwhile, signed his four-year rookie deal back in the spring, but sounded like a man who knows his future, as a fifth-round draft pick, is far from guaranteed. “You don’t know what could happen,” Sanders said to reporters on Wednesday. “I just go in here, enjoy my day, work hard, do everything I can — and if I’m here, I’m here; if I’m not, I’m not.”
Stefanski stands as the biggest domino, as if he falls this offseason, others — like general manager Andrew Berry, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, among others — would certainly follow. The two-time NFL Coach of the Year is about to complete his sixth season in Cleveland. With an overall record now well below .500, and a looming transition at quarterback with Deshaun Watson mercifully entering the final year of his five-year, $230 million fully-guaranteed contract, the timing could be right to make a change this offseason.
The heat has been turned up to a rapid boil over the past two weeks, and Stefanski responded to the ongoing criticism exactly how Browns fans would expect during Wednesday's Week 15 presser.
Kevin Stefanski’s constant coachspeak isn’t cutting it with Browns fans in 2025
Stefanski often takes accountability for what happens on the field, often dropping lines to reporters like, “I’m responsible for all of it,” or “We’ll get it coached up.”
At this point, those words carry almost no weight with Browns fans. They’ve heard it all before, and nothing ever changes, at least not in recent seasons.
The special teams is a great example, as in terms of DVOA, the Browns' 2025 unit is on track to be one of the worst in NFL history. Stefanski vowed to coach that unit up after some brutal mistakes in Week 13 against the San Francisco 49ers. Cleveland was just as bad against Tennessee, though, with a near muffed punt early, and a blocked punt late that led to points and helped decide the final outcome.
One more table for this morning.
— Aaron Schatz 🏈 (@ASchatzNFL) December 8, 2025
With another terrible game on special teams, the Cleveland Browns are now the 6th worst special teams DVOA through 13 games. pic.twitter.com/MJWOPwj3E6
Browns fans would love to hear their coach go beyond the constant coachspeak at the podium and show some real humility for how the team is performing. But Stefanski gave another matter-of-fact answer on Wednesday when asked by reporter Mary Kay Cabot about the rash of criticism he’s currently facing outside the team facility.
“I think in my position, everything you do that doesn’t work will be criticized. That’s the nature of this beast. I’ll constantly try to do what’s best for this football team.”
It’s hardly a guarantee that Stefanski gets fired on the first Monday after the season. In fact, recent reports seem to indicate that both the head coach and GM could get at least one more year to continue developing their stellar 2025 rookie class, and direct a final succession plan from the Watson era.
If Stefanski stays, Browns fans will react accordingly (and it won't be pretty). They've clearly lost faith in the current regime, with Stefanski's head-scratching decisions on the field — and frustrating responses off of it — at the center of it all.