Cleveland’s Super Bowl Window May Be Wider Than You Think
Photo Credit: Geoff Burke via USA TODAY Sports
Starting in 1946, the Cleveland Browns won multiple NFL championships – just don’t look too far beyond the time of the Lyndon Johnson administration if you want to maintain those positive vibes. The team had some upside in the 1980s and 1990s, before Art Modell sold them out. Then they came roaring back to Cleveland in 1999, rebuilt, lost, rebuilt, kept losing, got free admission for years on the quarterback carousel, and went 0-16. Ten US presidential administrations later and they still haven’t appeared in another NFL championship game, much less won the title.
Most Browns fans know these dire facts, but it’s important to relive these struggles in order to appreciate the significance of the Browns opening a Super Bowl window that has been painted shut for decades.
Ever since they ended their playoff–appearance drought and even notched a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020, the Browns have been edging toward being considered a Super Bowl contender. Now, with a fully healthy roster packed with talented players on both sides of the ball, plus a fully available three-time Pro Bowl quarterback in Deshaun Watson, the Browns possibly have their best chance to win a Super Bowl in franchise history. But how long will this window stay open?
So many key players on the Browns are either in the middle of their prime or just entering it. That includes DE Myles Garrett, RB Nick Chubb, WR Amari Cooper, CB Denzel Ward, G Joel Bitonio, and, if he can restore the talent he displayed in 2020, Watson. It would be nothing short of a travesty if all of these players’ best years were wasted.
It’s important to keep in mind that Chubb’s contract keeps him in Cleveland through 2024, Garrett’s contract makes him a Brown through 2026, and Watson’s record-setting, fully guaranteed $230 contract runs through 2026. So, does that mean 2023-26 is the plausible timeframe for the Browns to get a shot at a ring?
This is the time to swing for the fences, but it doesn’t mean they’re bound for a full rebuild afterwards. Watson has stated numerous times that he would love to stay in Cleveland his whole career, and Garrett has said the same. Considering Watson’s pass-heavy game and the general trend of the RB market, Chubb may or may not be here after the 2024 season, but that might not be a vital change. The team still has a lot of younger talent in the wide receiver room as well as second-year running back Jerome Ford, who the Browns would love to see develop.
The next three years may be the optimal time for the Browns to win a Super Bowl, but it is going to be far from easy. It is almost comical that, after years and years of the Browns building a truly competitive roster, the AFC has arguably become the most stacked it has ever been.
Let’s go through the quarterbacks quickly just to get an idea of how tough the AFC will be in the coming years: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, Aaron Rodgers, Tua Tagovailoa, Russell Wilson, and Watson. Ten out of the 16 AFC teams have elite quarterbacks, whether that’s guys who still have something to prove like Allen, who are just figuring it out like Lawrence, or who are trying to return to form like Wilson and Watson.
If the Browns want to be competitive in the AFC playoffs and get to a Super Bowl, they will have to run through four of these quarterbacks in the playoffs – three if they can somehow get the first-round bye. Any way you spin it, the AFC playoff race is going to be an absolute gauntlet over the next several years. Insanely difficult? For sure, but not impossible.
If the Browns can make it to the playoffs in a couple consecutive years, they’ll exponentially improve their chances. One issue for the 2020 squad was most definitely lack of experience. Much of the 2020 team consisted of rookies, players on rookie contracts, or veterans who hadn’t been to the playoffs at all due to their faithful service to the Browns. The lights were too bright when they had to go play the Kansas City Chiefs after felling the Steelers.
This experience gap has been accounted for, though, starting with Watson. He made multiple trips to the post-season in Houston. Granted, he only made it past the Wild Card round once. The Browns also brought in former Kansas City Chiefs safety and two-time Super Bowl champion Juan Thronhill. Not only does Thronhill help bolster the secondary, he has the experience of going to the top. Meanwhile, many of the Browns who took the trips to Pittsburgh and Kansas City in 2020 are still with the team, so they all now have the playoff experience they lacked previously.
All the pieces are on the table for the Browns to hoist their first Lombardi. If Cleveland wants to capitalize on their players’ primes, they need to win soon. It isn’t going to be easy with the juggernaut that is the AFC, but that’s okay. The Browns are used to it not being easy.
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