Few teams walk into a new season with as much roster turnover as the Cleveland Browns. A new head coach, a blockbuster trade of their best defensive player, a rebuilt offensive line, and a quarterback competition that’s still technically open — 2026 is a genuine reset for a franchise looking for its first real foothold in years.
2025 Season Recap
Cleveland finished 2025 at 5-12, missing the playoffs for a second straight season and marking the franchise’s 16th losing season in 18 years. The year was defined by chaos at quarterback: Joe Flacco opened the season under center but was benched after five games, Dillon Gabriel took over and started until a concussion sidelined him in Week 11, and rookie Shedeur Sanders made his NFL debut mid-game that same week before winning his first career start the following game, a 24-10 win over Las Vegas.
The season wasn’t without individual highlights — Myles Garrett set the NFL’s single-season sack record with 23, and running back Quinshon Judkins was productive early before a broken fibula and dislocated ankle ended his season in Week 16. But the losing was enough to cost head coach Kevin Stefanski his job. He was fired on January 5, finishing his Cleveland tenure at 45-56 despite two playoff appearances and two Coach of the Year awards. Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and offensive line coach Andy Dickerson were also let go after one season each.
Offseason Moves
The Browns hired Todd Monken as their new head coach, and his fingerprints are already all over the roster. The biggest move of the offseason, by far, was trading reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams. In return, Cleveland landed a first-round pick, a second-round pick, a third-round pick, and edge rusher Jared Verse — a real talent in his own right, but a clear step down from a player who just broke the NFL’s all-time single-season sack record.
Monken’s staff also went to work rebuilding the offensive line from the ground up. Cleveland signed guard Zion Johnson (three years, $49.5 million), added Elgton Jenkins on a two-year deal to play center, re-signed Teven Jenkins to compete at right guard, and traded for and extended right tackle Tytus Howard. On defense, linebacker Quincy Williams arrived to reunite with defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg, while tight end David Njoku, linebacker Devin Bush (now with Chicago), and guard Wyatt Teller were among the notable departures.
The draft brought four picks inside the top 35, including offensive tackle Spencer Fano, receivers KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston, and safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren. At quarterback, the job remains a genuine open competition between Deshaun Watson — who is working back from a second Achilles tear and was only cleared to return to practice this spring — and Sanders, who showed real flashes as a rookie starter down the stretch last season.
2026 Season Outlook
If there’s a silver lining for a team in transition, it’s the schedule. Cleveland’s 2026 slate ranks as the league’s easiest by opponent win percentage, with its opponents combining for a 124-165 record in 2025. Only three teams on the docket finished last season with a winning record — the Steelers (10-7), Texans (12-5), and Jaguars (13-4) — and the Browns open on the road against Jacksonville. Elsewhere on the schedule sit three teams that finished 3-14 a year ago (the Jets, Raiders, and Titans), giving a rebuilding roster a real chance to find some early wins if the new-look offensive line comes together.
Our Team’s Projection
We’re projecting Cleveland at 6-11 for 2026. That’s a modest step forward from last year’s 5-12 finish, built on the league’s softest schedule and a genuinely upgraded offensive line, but still limited by real uncertainty at the sport’s most important position.
The Browns’ season win total currently sits at 5.5, and our 6-11 projection leans toward the over. The case for it starts with scheduling — facing this few competitive opponents creates real value even for a team still figuring out its quarterback room, and an offensive line with four new starters should be an upgrade in the aggregate over a unit that returned nobody. The under case carries just as much weight: Watson is coming off a second Achilles tear and there’s no guarantee he’s the same player even if healthy, Sanders is still unproven as a full-time starter, and trading away a generational pass rusher like Garrett is the kind of move that can undercut a defense’s floor no matter how much draft capital comes back. Line movement has already reflected some of that caution — the total opened at 6.5 in June and has since drifted down to 5.5 following the Garrett trade, which tells you the market shares some of these same concerns. For more on how to think through a bet like this, our team broke down the mechanics of how season win totals actually work in a recent Bet Smarter piece.
Cleveland’s path back to relevance runs through the AFC North, a division that’s already produced two of our earlier previews in this series — catch our breakdowns of the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals for the full picture of what the Browns are up against closer to home.