Kevin Stefanski shows up on hot seat list after NFL insider hints at firings

Kevin Stefanski is in a rare position this season with the Cleveland Browns.

On the one hand, the team is losing. A lot. At 2-8 ahead of their Week 12 contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers for Thursday Night Football, and one game removed from a gut wrenchingly poor loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 11, the Browns just don't look like a competent football team.

On the other hand, much of those failures on offense rest in the hands of Deshaun Watson, who started the year under center for Cleveland and was statistically the worst quarterback in the NFL prior to his season ending Achilles injury. Stefanski has been dealt a bad hand at quarterback - sure, the team was able to make magic last season with Joe Flacco, but they have Jameis Winston shakily leading the offense now, and there's not much you can do with that if you're Stefanski.

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The former coach of the year winner seems to have job security - GM Andrew Berry indicated that Stefanski would be back to lead the team in 2025 during his bye week press conference. But, according to The 33rd Team's Ian Valentino, Stefanski might very well be on the hot seat headed into 2025 despite that security.

There are a few non surprising names on this list - Matt Eberflus, Doug Pederson, and Mike McCarthy all seem destined for a firing either by the end of this season or after 2024 wraps up. But, Stefanski and arguably Brian Daboll are shocking names to include here. They are two coaches handed some terrible quarterbacks to work with, and dealt some horrific injury luck as well. Both should be safe for 2025, but with how quickly things change in the NFL, both could be on their way out if the New York Giants and Browns are looking to shake things up entirely.

But, again, the Browns have offered no indication that they want yet another tear down and rebuild, especially as they continue to eat crow after trading for Watson. However, if Berry is also released from his job as GM, Stefanski might be on his way out, too.

More reporting could mean Browns are hiding their hand

NFL insider Josina Anderson has been getting cryptic on social media about coaches and GMs on the hot seat. She recently posted ahead of Cleveland's Week 11 bout against the New Orleans Saints that "3 HCs, 4 pending HCs, 2 GM's and 3 pending GM's" are possibly on their way out at this juncture of the season.

Between Berry and Stefanski, Berry feels far more destined for firing. He's been abysmal at drafting and will forever go down as the face of the Watson trade that seems to have set the team back instead of propelling them forward for the last three seasons. Between that move, drafting poorly in later rounds, and getting essentially no major free agents because of Watson's guaranteed contract, Berry should be a lot more worried about his job than Stefanski.

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