The 2-7 Cleveland Browns have the weekend off before resuming their march toward an uncertain future.
While they won’t be returning to the playoffs, the disappointing story of the 2024 team is not fully written. And though it still likely will be a sad one, there are plenty of evaluation opportunities and games against quality opposition on the schedule. Young players have already been promoted or shifted into multiple key spots, and that should continue.
Before we dive too deeply into how the organization needs to shape its power structure and thinking for 2025 and beyond, let’s focus on those eight games — two important months for many key figures and chances for guys to either play their way into this team’s plans or audition for others.
What’s going to happen with the Browns from mid-November to early January? I have eight predictions on that, one for each remaining game.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson will take over for Jameis Winston as Browns’ starting QB
This is not wild. In fact, it’s pretty mild since the Browns probably already know what they have in Thompson-Robinson. But because the Browns don’t have a quarterback of the future despite having more than $170 million in salary-cap commitments to Deshaun Watson, they probably have to let Thompson-Robinson play so the second-year quarterback can get important experience and the team can get a full evaluation. It’s too early to know if Cleveland will give Thompson-Robinson a bunch of games or just a couple, but this feels inevitable.
Winston will play at least relatively well
Somewhere between Winston’s 334-yard day in the upset of the Baltimore Ravens and his clunker against the Los Angeles Chargers is a happy medium where I’m guessing his performances will live. That medium might still include some wild interceptions — it usually does — but Winston is better than he showed in Week 9 when the Browns were outcoached and outclassed. I’d expect at least one or two more quality performances from Winston before the Browns make the forward-thinking switch.
We’ll see Jedrick Wills Jr. play again
It has to be this way, doesn’t it? Wills hasn’t been fully healthy, and now that he’s able to play he’s been benched in favor of Dawand Jones. I’m not really predicting injury here, but given that Wills doesn’t have a contract for next year, I think he still has to be evaluated. Maybe that’s even a late-season cameo at right tackle, his college position. Let’s see how it plays out, but the Browns probably owe themselves (and Wills) one more chance to see if something might work. Barring a major contract restructure, right tackle Jack Conklin won’t be on the team next season.
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Dawand Jones and Cedric Tillman continue to impress
We’re reaching in looking for any positives, but the reality is that the season is barely half over and many evaluation points remain. Jones only had minimal left tackle experience in his background before moving there last month, and Tillman was a complete non-factor with Watson under center. I’m not predicting that either will be a star, though Jones appears to have a higher ceiling. I think there’s a good chance both continue to improve, and that would be important for the team’s uncertain future.
Tillman will lead the team in touchdowns
It hasn’t exactly been a fireworks show thus far, but Tillman leads the team with three touchdowns. Among players still on the roster, David Njoku and safety Rodney McLeod are next with two apiece. Given Tillman’s connections with both of the team’s likely quarterbacks the rest of the way — Tillman and Thompson-Robinson were high school teammates — I think the second-year receiver will end up keeping his name atop the list.
The Browns will finish 5-12
I’m predicting three more wins. Fans who want a top-five pick in April won’t approve of that, and maybe I’m way off here. But the Browns return to action against an awful New Orleans Saints team, and with four division games remaining, I trust the defense and coaching staff enough to count one upset with the Browns playing spoiler. That leaves the team either beating the Denver Broncos or Miami Dolphins in December (not the Kansas City Chiefs) to get to five victories.
Nick Chubb scores in last home game in Cleveland
Chubb doesn’t have a contract for next season. He’s back looking like his old self on a few runs, and he should get stronger in the coming weeks. But with so much uncertainty, I’m not sure either Chubb or the team will let sentimentality and popularity dictate the future for a running back who turns 29 the week of the Browns’ home finale.
I look for Chubb to get a whale of an ovation before the Browns play the Dolphins on Dec. 29 and to find the end zone, bringing a bigger ovation. Maybe in February or March a reunion will be finalized, but Chubb could be finishing his career on a different (and better) team. The Browns already have almost $40 million in dead money on the books for 2025, and not included in that count are complicated decisions on Watson, Chubb, Wills and Dalvin Tomlinson. It’s probably time to build for the future.
Browns shake up front office and move on from either their GM or chief strategy officer (or both)
Considering the failures of the Deshaun Watson trade, the offensive line carousel in 2024, the contract uncertainty across the offense and the number of draft misses, I can’t imagine team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam viewing this massive failure as acceptable. A lot can happen in the next two months, but if the most expensive roster in NFL history produces three or four wins, it’s hard to see the Haslams allowing this front-office group — led by general manager Andrew Berry — to continue to make crucial decisions.
(Top photo: Nick Cammett / Getty Images)
