The 10 biggest what-ifs in Cleveland Browns history

3. What if the Browns hired literally anyone else in 2019? (Not Freddie Kitchens)

Again, hindsight is always 20/20, isn't it? The Browns thought they were doing the right thing by hiring Freddie Kitchens in 2019 after he seemingly did such a tremendous job taking over play-calling duties in 2018. The offense took a huge leap forward when Baker Mayfield got into the lineup and everything seemed to be firing on all cylinders as the team won five of its last seven games and came within just two points of finishing with four straight wins and an 8-7-1 record overall.

Baker Mayfield went from having a QB rating under 79 before Hue Jackson was fired in 2018 and a QB rating of 106.2 after Kitchens took over. His completion percentage leaped from just over 58 percent under Jackson to over 68 percent under Kitchens.

It's not like the Browns missed out on the next Bill Belichick in the 2019 head coach hiring cycle, but guys like Matt LaFleur and Zac Taylor got head coaching gigs with the Packers and Bengals, respectively. Bruce Arians also came out of retirement in 2019 to coach the Bucs, but I'm not sure he would have been a realistic option.

At any rate, hiring Kitchens was the Browns simply sticking with what was working, and it obviously cost the team. Kitchens lasted just one more season before getting replaced by Kevin Stefanski in 2020. Would the Browns have been better off with a coach like Taylor or LaFleur leading Baker Mayfield? Most likely. Maybe even Kliff Kingsbury, who came up to the NFL that year to coach Kyler Murray with the Cardinals.