The latest Cleveland Browns news and notes from around the NFL in the Sunday Dawg Chow.
The Cleveland Browns are on their bye week, which means that Browns fans get a reprieve from a day filled with anger and angst.
Enjoy the break, Browns fans. Spend time with the family, watch some other NFL games, maybe do some yard work. Everyone needs the break because the final eight weeks of the season are going to be a tiring slog to the finish of a season that went off the rails in Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys and never found its way back.
The Browns will be back at it soon enough as they open the second half of the season with a road game against the equally woeful New Orleans Saints followed by a home game just four days later against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
So take advantage of the bye week to rest, reset, and prepare for the runup to the latest offseason filled with questions and the latest, greatest search for the answer at quarterback.
In other words, rest up, because you are going to need to be prepared for what is coming down the road.
Until then, let’s get everyone caught up with the latest news about the Browns and the NFL in the Sunday Dawg Chow.
Dawgs By Nature:
- Browns Deshaun Watson’s future: The answer is either simple or complicated (Barry Shuck) – The Cleveland Browns traded with the Houston Texans for Deshaun Watson in 2020 to solve their quarterback problems. Throughout the years, the franchise had spent a lot of time, effort, scouting, and money on getting a dependable signal caller to lead the team and failed numerous times.
- Browns Cedric Tillman starting to prove Hall of Famer Randy Moss might have been right (Jared Mueller) – Looking ahead, the Cleveland Browns hope that the future looks much better than the present. The Browns have a number of young players who should get more snaps as the 2024 season winds down with nothing to play for. We’ve seen a couple of very good games from WR Cedric Tillman and two young defenders starting to break out.
- Browns Week 10 rooting guide: Top of the NFL draft is up in the air (Jared Mueller) – The Cleveland Browns sit at home in Week 10 of the 2024 NFL preparing for what is basically pointless games the rest of the season. The Browns are 2-7 and are tied with eight other teams for just two victories so far this season. It is important to note that Strength of Schedule is the primary tiebreaker for the draft order. Simplified, the worse teams you played the better your draft spot will be.
- Lions Za’Darius Smith shares his appreciation for Browns GM Andrew Berry (Jared Mueller) – The trade of defensive end Za’Darious Smith to the Detroit Lions had been rumored for weeks. Speaking to the media in Detroit, Smith shared that Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry had talked to him about the trade a few weeks before it happened and thanked Berry for giving him a chance to play with the Lions.
- NFL’s Fan of the Year contest: Browns nominee is a Marine Corps veteran (Jared Mueller) – The NFL’s Fan of the Year contest really should be won by someone wearing orange and brown every year. This year’s nominee shares a love for Cleveland, the Browns as well as military service. Larry Schmitz has been to every home game since 1985 after serving in the Marine Corps.
Cleveland Browns:
- Cleveland Browns post-bye week defensive questions: JOK, young defensive lineman (Beacon Journal) – The Cleveland Browns’ bye week fell at just past the exact midpoint of the season. That they’re 2-7 at that point isn’t irrelevant at all. All that record at the bye does is change how the second half of the season could play out for the Browns. More importantly, one of the big things they need to gain from the final eight games of the season is an idea on a handful of players or positions to help provide a blueprint for the offseason.
- What Browns said about Deshaun Watson. What I expect to happen (Terry Pluto) – Andrew Berry has been watching the same games as Browns fans. That also goes for the performance of Deshaun Watson. But Berry also is the Browns’ general manager, not a talk radio host or a sportswriter. His job isn’t to have a hot take. It’s just the opposite. When emotions are running hot and angry about his team, he prefers to cool them off.
- Andrew Berry says teardown won’t be necessary, have resources to build roster (Browns Zone) – The Browns are 2-7 and drawing comparisons to the expansion team of 1999. They don’t know who their starting quarterback will be in 2025 and beyond. They have serious salary cap concerns moving forward, none bigger than the $73 million cap hit in 2025 and again in 2026 for quarterback Deshaun Watson, whose future with the team is in doubt. General manager Andrew Berry acknowledged the difficulty of the moment.
- How has Nick Chubb been performing since his return from knee surgery? (cleveland.com) – The career of Browns star running back Nick Chubb can be summarized as boundary-pushing, both on and off the field.
NFL:
- Dak Prescott planning to have season-ending surgery, sources say (ESPN) – Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott plans to undergo season-ending surgery on his partially torn hamstring, pending the opinion of one final specialist, sources told ESPN.
- Chris Olave’s 2024 season could be over, as Saints are expected to place him on IR Saturday (nola.com) – Chris Olave will miss the next four games, and his 2024 season may be over as well. The New Orleans Saints receiver, who suffered his second concussion of the season last week and the fourth of his NFL career, is expected to land on injured reserve Saturday, according to a league source.
- The NFL has lots of bad teams — and lots of coaches on the hot seat (Washington Post) – The billionaires are growing restless. The NFL trade deadline has passed, meaning the chance to get other teams to take salary off their hands has expired. And if the chasm between the haves and have-nots in a league that champions parity over quality seems more distant than ever, that’s because indeed it is. Congrats, 2024 NFL season!