GM Andrew Berry sees Kevin Stefanski as the Browns head coach for a long time. (TheLandOnDemand)
Andrew Berry wants Joe Flacco back as Deshaun Watson’s backup – at the right price
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Takeaways from Andrew Berry season wrap-up press conference …
The Browns told Joe Flacco in his exit interview they’d like him back and Flacco said he’d love to be back.
But Flacco will not commit to returning as Deshaun Watson’s backup until he explores starting job possibilities.
Flacco, 39, is hoping his 4-2 stint with the Browns as their fourth emergency quarterback drums up a market that didn’t exist in 2023.
“We’d absolutely love to have Joe back,” said Browns GM Andrew Berry. “He’s a good quarterback, but I guess, maybe a little bit similar to Jacoby [Brissett] last year, it depends, right? I want to bring all of our good players back, but there are constraints to that on really kind of both sides of the aisle. But would have no problem having Joe back.”
Brissett left the Browns after 2022 and was able to secure a one-year deal for $8 million with the Washington Commanders.
Flacco made about $1 million, counting incentives, over his six games with the Browns after being promoted from their practice squad.
Berry said he considers the backup quarterback “a top 30 position on the roster” and he does intend to add one to join Watson and Dorian Thompson-Robinson in the quarterback room for 2024.
Flacco won over the locker room and fan base instantly with his demeanor and rocket arm while Watson was rehabbing his right shoulder after surgery in Los Angeles.
Berry said he has no concerns about the potential of a divided locker room if Flacco returned in a backup role.
“Zero consideration, because of how both individuals are,” Berry said. “It’s not a concern internally at all.”
Watson update
Berry said that Watson’s recovery from surgery to repair a displaced fracture of the glenoid bone in his right shoulder is “ahead of schedule.”
“It still is early, but we’re really pleased with his progress so far and certainly looking forward to getting him back when he comes in the spring,” Berry said.
“There’s nothing that would suggest that there should be some type of limitation or anything like that moving forward.”
Watson has been able to start and finish only 11 games in the first two years of his five-year, fully-guaranteed, $230 million deal with the Browns. The GM declined to grade the trade for Watson, which cost the Browns six draft picks overall, including their No. 1s in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
“We’d all love to have him on the field more often,” Berry said. I think that’s safe to say, himself included. I do feel really good about him, happy with the progress that he’s made within our organization, both on the field and off the field, and we’re looking forward to getting him back next year.
“We think he’s going to have a really big year and have a ton of confidence in him as our starting quarterback.”
Offensive coordinator update
The Browns reportedly will conduct their third interview for their vacant offensive coordinator position on Tuesday with Jarrod Johnson, C.J. Stroud’s quarterback coach with the Houston Texans.
They previously have interviewed Andy Dickerson, who was run game coordinator and offensive line coach under Pete Carroll with the Seattle Seahawks; and Ken Dorsey, who was the Browns QB3 in 2006-08 and most recently offensive coordinator with the Buffalo Bills.
Berry would not talk much about the search. He said it’s not important that the next coordinator have a previous association with Watson.
“We’re just going to look for the best people and it’s just as simple as that,” he said.
As to whether Kevin Stefanski would consider handing off play-calling duties to the new coordinator, Berry wouldn’t rule it out.
“I’d say number one, that’s something that we always talk about every offseason as kind of the self-assessment part,” he said. “Part of that depends on where we land with staff and what Kevin’s preferences are. Ultimately that’s going to be his decision as he constructs the staff.
“We’ve mentioned multiple times, I think that’s one of Kevin’s strengths, but how that operates from year to year, that’s ultimately something that we assess.”
Mr. Chubb’s opus
One of Berry’s many offseason tasks is to redo Nick Chubb’s contract to facilitate a return from two surgeries on his left knee injured in Game 2 in Pittsburgh.
Chubb’s final non-guaranteed year in his contract includes a base salary of $11.775 million with a salary cap number of $15.825 million. Those figures are untenable for a player who most likely would not be back on the field until possibly the middle of the 2024 season.
Berry said his level of respect for Chubb on a scale of 1 to 10 went from a 10 to 20 this year as he observed Chubb rehabbing hard after his two surgeries.
Berry knows that Chubb’s stature in the locker room and with the fan base merits extraordinary care in working out a financial solution to assure his return. He referred to the Chubb issue as “the elephant in the room.”
“I can say for myself, no one in the organization ... nobody wants to see that carry in Pittsburgh be the last time he carries the ball for the Cleveland Browns,” Berry said. “And obviously there are things that we’ll have to work through, but that would not be our intention as well. We obviously will work to keep him on the team.”
Brownie bits
Berry reiterated Stefanski’s take on the rotten egg laid in the 45-14 loss in the wild card game to the Texans. “We picked a bad day to have a bad day against a good team and a good quarterback,” he said …
Berry isn’t the person in the organization who makes the call on a contract extension for Stefanski. That’s all on Jimmy Haslam. But Berry left no doubt where he stands on his coach. “The way that he was able to lead and manage through challenges in adversity this year was absolutely phenomenal,” Berry said. “And we have a smart, adaptable, emotionally intelligent leader who, the crazy part is, he’s not even close to his ceiling. And this is a guy who hopefully in the next month should earn his second Coach of the Year award in his first four years as a head coach. And I know that our organization is in really good hands both now and for the foreseeable future with him.” ...
The interview of Dickerson, an accomplished offensive line coach, suggests the Browns may be guarding for the potential departure of legendary line guru Bill Callahan, whose son, Brian, is receiving second interviews for head coach with three teams. NFL Media reported that Brian Callahan will be hired as Tennessee Titans coach. It remains to be seen if Bill seeks to follow his son to Nashville. Berry said, “I definitely understand the interest there. We obviously value Bill very highly. He’s done a great job with us the past four seasons, but I probably don’t feel comfortable commenting on that until we address the coaching staff.”
