Before the Cleveland Browns had officially fired Kevin Stefanski, the writing appeared to be on the wall. The Browns had back-to-back miserable seasons and while it's not all on Stefanski, the two playoff appearances he had with the team weren't going to save him forever.
A massive knock on Stefanski during his time in Cleveland was the Deshaun Watson trade, which took place in the 2022 offseason. It was looked at as a bad move at the time, given Watson's off-the-field issues and the giant contract the team rewarded him with, but when he took the field, the trade looked even worse because of how bad he was playing.
Watson's failures, paired with Stefanski's inability to find a stable quarterback to replace him, likely ended up costing him his job, but according to Pete Prisco of CBS Sports, Stefanski didn't want Watson in the first place.
Prisco was discussing Stefanski and what his future entailed before the Browns had officially fired him, and dropped quite a truth bomb.
"The organization has made some bad decisions going back to Deshaun Watson. It's the worst trade in the history of the National Football League and it's crippled that franchise," Prisco said. "From what I was told, [Stefanski] didn't want that trade made and so he was saddled with Deshaun Watson as his quarterback. It didn't work, and now they have that mega contract. They gave up all those draft picks, and this is the situation they're in."
NFL insider Pete Prisco explains why Kevin Stefanski was set up to fail in Cleveland
If this is true, then what a frustrating turn of events for Stefanski. To not want a guy who was controversial, only to be forced into the move and then get fired as a result of it not panning out, has to be beyond infuriating.
Before diving into this part of the conversation, Prisco had said that Stefanski should want out of Cleveland even if he wasn't fired (remember, this conversation happened before the firing was announced). He said that Stefanski will bounce back quickly and be in a much better situation than he was in Cleveland.
"If Kevin Stefanski hits the market, the Giants will be the first call they make. They'll call him. I mean, I think he'll get a job like that instantly, so I don't know if he wants out of there. If I were him and I could get the Giants job and I could get a chance to have Jaxson Dart instead of what he has there in Cleveland, I'm out."
You know, it's hard to argue too much with that logic. This will likely be a good thing for Stefanski in the long run, and the Browns might end up looking back on the decision to fire him with a lot of regret.