Tag: Cleveland Browns

Sep 28, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; A general view of the Cleveland Browns helmets on the field before the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images

Report: Browns withdraw rule change proposal for draft pick trades

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Cleveland Browns have withdrawn their proposed rule change which would have extended how far out teams can trade draft picks, according to an NFL Network report.

The Browns proposed the rule earlier this month, hoping to grow the range at which teams can trade draft picks from three years to five.

The organization argued this “1) would provide Clubs with greater roster-building flexibility, 2) would create more creative trade structures that better mirror the valuations of both draft selections and players, 3) would increase the liquidity of draft capital which supports league-wide parity, 4) would improve alignment with contract and salary cap cycles, and 5) would encourage a more active trade market.”

The proposal was set to be voted on this week at the league’s meetings in Phoenix, needing 24 of 32 votes in favor in order to be approved. However, it seems highly unlikely it was going to pass, with Rams head coach Sean McVay going so far as to say it had a “zero percent” chance.

–Field Level Media

New Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken, center, poses with members of the ownership group, from left, Jimmy Haslam, JW Johnson and Whitney Haslam-Johnson during Monken’s introductory press conference at the team's training facility, Feb. 3, 2026.

Browns president: We’re ‘easy to pick on right now’

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Dave Jenkins knows the reputation surrounding the Cleveland Browns.

The president of the Haslem Sports Group, which owns the NFL’s Browns in addition to the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA and Columbus Crew of MLS, hasn’t overseen much success during his 22 years as president of the Browns.

In the Haslem family’s 14 years of Browns ownership, the team has made the playoffs as many times as it has held the No. 1 overall pick in the draft (twice each).

In an interview conducted during Super Bowl week, Jenkins told Front Office Sports that the Browns are “real easy to pick on right now” because the team has been unable to string together a “consistent run of success.”

“But like any business, any industry, the more data and information we can have accessible to inform our decision-making, we should be more successful,” Jenkins said.

Things have gone better for the Crew, who won the 2020 and 2023 MLS Cup titles after Haslem Sports Group became a partial owner in 2019, and a bit better for the Bucks, who made the playoffs but failed to make it out of the first round in each of the three seasons since HSG took over partial ownership in April 2023.

Still, the challenge of building winning programs in “mid-tier markets” has proven to be a difficult one for the Haslem Sports Group, most notably with the Browns.

“That presents challenges,” Jenkins said. “You’ve got to drive a business result and be competitive with other big cities.”

Cleveland is resetting things this offseason, firing head coach Kevin Stefanski after six seasons. He led the Browns to both of the franchise’s playoff appearances since 2002 (2020, 2023) but won a combined eight games the last two seasons.

The team hired Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken as its next head coach as a pivotal moment in franchise history nears with a new $2.4 billion domed stadium in Brook Park, Ohio — a Cleveland suburb — set to be ready for the 2029 season.

“We were fortunate to find 176 acres just south of Cleveland, 10 miles from the heart of downtown,” Jenkins told Front Office Sports. “It’s going to drive activity like the city has never seen. So we’re super excited about the economic impact it’s going to create, the events we’re going to attract that have never considered coming to Ohio.”

–Field Level Media

Reports: Browns hiring Todd Monken as head coach

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Cleveland Browns will name Todd Monken as their next head coach, multiple outlets reported Wednesday.

Monken spent the past three seasons as the offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, where he worked with former NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, but has experience with the Browns franchise. In 2019, he was the offensive coordinator when Cleveland finished 6-10, resulting in the firing of head coach Freddie Kitchens and his staff.

Monken turns 60 on Feb. 5.

This is the first NFL head coaching job for Monken, who held the same position at Southern Miss (2013-15). The team was 13-25 under Monken, who led the Golden Eagles to a 9-5 record and a bowl game in his final season.

Monken has spent the latter half of his career zigzagging from college to the NFL and back again. Before taking the job at Southern Miss, he spent 15 seasons as an assistant coach on the offensive side of the ball in college, then took his first NFL job coaching wide receivers for the Jacksonville Jaguars (2007-10).

He left Southern Miss to become the offensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2016-17) and subsequently held the same job with the Browns, the University of Georgia (2020-22) and the Ravens.

The Browns interviewed nine candidates to find a replacement for Kevin Stefanski, who was fired earlier this month after a 5-12 season. The Browns finished above .500 in two of his six seasons. The Atlanta Falcons subsequently hired Stefanski for their head coach opening.

Among the candidates, five were interviewed a second time: Monken, Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski and Washington Commanders run game coordinator Anthony Lynn.

–Field Level Media

Reports: Browns request to interview Jags OC Grant Udinski

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Cleveland Browns requested an interview with Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski for their head coaching position, according to multiple reports Monday.

Udinski, who turns 30 Monday, just concluded his first season on the coaching staff of the Jaguars, who were eliminated from the playoffs with Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Udinski broke into coaching at Baylor in 2019. Matt Rhule, then the Baylor head coach, became the Carolina Panthers’ head coach the next year and Udinski joined him.

Following two seasons with the Panthers, Udinski was hired by the Vikings in 2022 as assistant to the head coach/special projects. He became Minnesota’s assistant quarterbacks coach in 2023, and in 2024 he received the title of assistant offensive coordinator.

The Vikings wound up 12th in total offense in 2024 (346.9 yards per game) and ninth in scoring (25.4 points) thanks to a strong season from quarterback Sam Darnold.

When asked about Udinski in mid-December, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence had nothing but praise.

“I’ve never really met anyone like him. The way he approaches the preparation process, the attention to detail, just the game planning in general,” Lawrence told reporters. “The things that he thinks about. The conversations that we have throughout the whole week. It’s a very, very detailed process… There’s no stones that are left unturned in his approach with us in the QB room.”

Lawrence praised Grant’s communication with him starting in the spring all the way to in-game information.

“Grant is one of the big factors,” Lawrence said. “He’s helped me a lot, see things quicker, pick up on different tendencies a defense might have. He’s been awesome for me.”

The Browns interview will be the first for a head coaching position for Udinski. Last offseason, he reportedly interviewed for five offensive coordinator positions.

–Field Level Media

Bengals can end on 3-game win streak by beating Browns

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Two AFC North division rivals who clashed in Week 1 will also finish the season together Sunday as the Cincinnati Bengals host the Cleveland Browns.

The Bengals escaped with a narrow 17-16 win in Cleveland in the opener when Browns rookie kicker Andre Szmyt missed an extra point and a 36-yard field goal. Cleveland started current Cincinnati backup Joe Flacco in that game.

The Bengals (6-10) aim to close out the regular season with their first three-game winning streak of the season after blowout wins over Miami and Arizona in the past two weeks.

The 45-21 victory in Week 16 at Miami followed by a 37-14 romp in Week 17 against Arizona at home marked the first time the Bengals won back-to-back games by a margin of 20 or more points since Weeks 6-7 in 2021.

Cincinnati’s offense has exploded in the last two weeks, earning season highs in first downs (29) and net yards (429) against Arizona. On defense, the Bengals tallied four sacks and held the Cardinals to 42 yards rushing.

Still, it has been a massively disappointing season for head coach Zac Taylor and the Bengals, who lost Joe Burrow for nine games to a turf toe injury in a Week 2 win.

“We have to finish this off the right way,” Taylor said. “All we can control right now is what we’ve got in front of us. There’s one game left. We’ve got to go finish this thing the right way like these guys have been doing for us. It’s important to play well in front of our home fans and finish this out the right way.”

The Browns (4-12) enter after their most emotional win of the season, a 13-6 defeat of rival Pittsburgh last Sunday in their home finale in Cleveland.

The biggest storyline for the Browns heading into the season finale continues to be star defensive edge Myles Garrett and his pursuit of the NFL single-season sack record. Entering with 22 on the season, Garrett needs just one to pass the 22.5 sacks of Michael Strahan in 2001 and T.J. Watt in 2021.

Garrett said after Sunday’s win that Pittsburgh did everything it could to keep him from setting the new mark held by one of their own stars, even to the detriment of winning the game.

Garrett has traditionally had big games against Burrow and the Bengals, including two sacks on Sept. 7. Garrett’s 15 sacks in 13 games against Cincinnati are the most in his career against any opponent.

Shedeur Sanders improved to 2-4 as Cleveland’s starting quarterback, completing 17 of 23 passes for 186 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions against the Steelers. In seven total games played, Sanders has thrown seven touchdowns but has been intercepted 10 times.

“Just staying consistent, taking what they give me,” Sanders said. “Whenever we get off rhythm, get back on rhythm, get back on track. And I think that’s the next part of my game I’m trying to evolve, is whenever either we’re stagnant or some adversity comes, being able to get back on track.”

Sanders said he is blocking out all the noise regarding his future in Cleveland as the starting quarterback for the franchise going forward.

“I can’t think about what other people’s opinion or what they view me as,” Sanders added. “I know the teams that we go against, I know they definitely respect me in a passing game, for sure, but I can’t be accountable for somebody else’s decisions.”

–Field Level Media

Browns won’t activate QB Deshaun Watson from PUP list this season

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Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson will not be activated from the physically unable to perform list, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters Tuesday, marking an end to Watson’s 2025 season.

Cleveland’s highest-paid offensive player had returned to the practice field for the first time this season on Dec. 3, opening a 21-day window for the franchise to either activate him to the 53-man roster or shut him down for the remainder of the 2025 season by Tuesday.

Watson is recovering from multiple Achilles surgeries since January and had been thought to be out for the season while healing from the procedures.

“He’s done a great job with everything that’s been asked of him,” Stefanski said. “I’ve gotten to see him work so hard, whether it’s in the training room, by himself in the indoor with the trainers, on the practice field now for the last bit. Just felt like this was the right decision for him and for us. His focus will continue to be to help this football team and continue to get healthy and get stronger and all those types of things.”

Cleveland remains on the hook for one more year of Watson’s five-year contract.

He counts more than $80.7 million against the salary cap in 2026 with a base salary of $46 million. Team owner Jimmy Haslam called the Watson acquisition a “big swing and miss” in March.

Watson, 30, has played 19 games with the Browns and thrown 19 TD passes since he was acquired from the Houston Texans in 2022 and signed a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract in Cleveland.

Haslam will have paid Watson $184 million when the 2025 season ends. Watson will have earned $9.68 million per game played with the Browns despite not playing this season.

He was suspended 11 games in 2022 for off-field conduct related to sexual misconduct allegations involving more than 20 massage therapists. His 2023 season was cut short by left shoulder surgery and the 2024 season ended abruptly for Watson in Week 7 because of a ruptured Achilles, missing the final 10 games.

He had a second Achilles surgery in January to repair a new tear in the same tendon.

The Browns restructured Watson’s contract in the offseason — he received a $44 million restructure bonus — to free up salary-cap space and sign defensive end Myles Garrett to a four-year, $160 million contract and curb his trade demand.

–Field Level Media

Browns RB Quinshon Judkins on IR after fibula/ankle surgery

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Cleveland Browns rookie running back Quinshon Judkins was placed on injured reserve following successful surgery Tuesday to repair a fractured fibula and ankle dislocation.

Judkins sustained the injury in the second quarter of Sunday’s 23-20 home loss to the Buffalo Bills, coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters after the game.

Judkins was tackled by Bills linebacker Matt Milano with two minutes left in the first half. He caught a pass from Shedeur Sanders and was immediately met by Milano, resulting in a 6-yard loss. The play was originally ruled a fumble that was recovered by Buffalo linebacker Terrel Bernard.

Judkins, 22, was planting his right foot on the ground as he was hit. A trainer applied an air cast and the injury was so graphic that the CBS broadcast did not show a replay. Judkins had to be carted to the locker room.

The second-round pick from Ohio State had 51 yards (22 rushing, 29 receiving) on Sunday, leaving him just shy of 1,000 yards from scrimmage. He finished with 998 yards (827 rushing, 171 receiving) and seven rushing touchdowns in 14 games (all starts).

–Field Level Media

Browns RB Quinshon Judkins ruled out after leg injury

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Cleveland Browns rookie running back Quinshon Judkins was carted off the field with a lower right leg injury late in the second quarter and ruled out for the remainder of Sunday’s home game against the Buffalo Bills..

Judkins was tackled by Bills linebacker Matt Milano with two minutes left in the second quarter when the injury occurred.

With Buffalo holding a 20-10 lead, Judkins caught a pass from Shedeur Sanders and was immediately met by Milano, resulting in a 6-yard loss. The play was originally ruled a fumble that was recovered by Buffalo linebacker Terrel Bernard.

Judkins was planting his right foot on the ground as he was hit and initially struggled to move his lower leg. A trainer applied an air cast and the injury was so graphic, the CBS broadcast did not show a replay.

Judkins had eight rushes in the game for 22 yards to go along with five receptions for 29 yards.

A second-round pick from Ohio State, Judkins entered Sunday’s game with 805 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in 13 games (all starts) to go along with 21 receptions for 142 yards.

–Field Level Media

Bears batter Shedeur Sanders, Browns for first 10-win season since 2018

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D’Andre Swift rushed for two touchdowns, D.J. Moore hauled in two touchdown passes and the Chicago Bears cruised to a 31-3 win over the visiting Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon.

Caleb Williams completed 17 of 28 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns for Chicago (10-4), which reached double-digit victories for the first time since 2018. The Bears’ defense forced three turnovers and racked up five sacks.

Shedeur Sanders completed 18 of 35 passes for 177 yards and three interceptions for Cleveland (3-11). Harold Fannin Jr. caught a game-high seven passes for 48 yards, while Isaiah Bond caught two bombs for 89 yards.

Browns pass rusher Myles Garrett moved within one sack of matching the all-time single-season record. Garrett finished with 1 1/2 sacks on Sunday to give him 21 1/2 sacks on the season, which means he can surpass co-record holders Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt next weekend at home against the Buffalo Bills.

The Bears opened the scoring midway through the first quarter. Swift took a handoff, bounced to the right and beat a defender to the front pylon for a 6-yard score.

Chicago increased its lead to 14-0 with 1:29 remaining in the first quarter. Moore got open in the back of the end zone and made a running catch for a 3-yard touchdown.

The Browns got on the scoreboard with 10:03 to go in the third quarter. Andre Szmyt made a 50-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 14-3.

Less than two minutes later, Williams and Moore connected for their second touchdown of the day to make it 21-3 in favor of the Bears. Williams rolled right and made a jump pass, and Moore brought it down between two defenders in the back of the end zone for a 22-yard score.

Swift notched his second rushing touchdown to make it 28-3 in the final minute of the third quarter. The Browns appeared to have Swift bottled up for a short gain, but the running back stayed on his feet and shook off a couple defenders on his way to a 17-yard score.

The Bears made it 31-3 on Cairo Santos’ 41-yard field goal with 7:30 remaining.

Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze missed the game after he aggravated a foot injury during pregame warmups.

–Field Level Media

Titans deny Browns’ comeback attempt, end lengthy skid

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Cam Ward threw two touchdown passes and Tony Pollard ran for two touchdowns as the Tennessee Titans ended a seven-game losing streak by beating the host Cleveland Browns 31-29 on Sunday afternoon.

The Titans kept Cleveland out of the end zone in the second half until the Browns tallied two touchdowns in the waning minutes — and followed both with failed two-point conversion attempts — to create drama between a pair of struggling teams.

Shedeur Sanders threw seven yards to Harold Fannin II for a touchdown with 1:03 to play, but a two-point conversion pass failed.

Pollard rushed for 161 yards on 25 carries as the Titans (2-11) won despite managing only 292 yards of total offense. Tennessee piled up its largest point total of the season.

Ward was 14-for-28 for 117 yards and threw an early interception.

Sanders threw for three touchdowns and ran for another for the Browns (3-10). He was 23-for-42 for 364 yards in the air with an interception. Fannin had 114 receiving yards on eight catches.

Pollard gave the Titans a 21-17 lead in the final minute of the third quarter on a 32-yard run. Tennessee padded the lead with 9:29 remaining on Chimere Dike’s 5-yard TD reception from Ward and then tacked on Joey Slye’s 41-yard field goal with 6:17 left.

Cleveland opted to try a two-point conversion after pulling within 31-23 with 4:27 left on Sanders’ 7-yard run. That backfired when the play failed.

The Browns got the ball back with less than three minutes to play at their own 20-yard line and marched for the final touchdown.

The Titans opened a 14-3 lead in the first quarter. Ward connected with Elic Ayomanor on a 14-yard touchdown pass and Pollard ripped off a 65-yard scoring run immediately after Cleveland’s Andre Szmyt kicked a 38-yard field goal.

But the Browns held a 17-14 halftime lead thanks to David Njoku’s 1-yard touchdown catch and Jerry Jeudy’s 60-yard TD reception.

–Field Level Media