Joel Bitonio is looking forward to rebounding from an injury-plagued season in 2023, but he's not sure how much longer he'll play. (TheLandOnDemand)
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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 Browns charity golf outing at Westwood CC …
Perennial Pro Bowl left guard Joel Bitonio is not thinking retirement, but …
“I’ve definitely played more seasons than I have left, you know,” Bitonio, 32, said. “But really, I’m truly taking it, one year, one game, at a time. You never know.
“You know, Joe [Thomas] played 11 years. I’m going to be at 11 years now. So, it’s a blessing every time I get to keep playing football. It’s gonna dictate a lot of how my body feels and stuff and how we are as a team as well. But right now I feel good and I’m ready for this year and I’m, you know, hopefully … I can bounce back physically and have a great year.”
Bitonio expressed frustration in his exit interview in January about knee, back and high ankle injuries that kept him from playing up to his high standard.
Thomas, one of the NFL’s all-time iron men, expressed similar feelings because of injuries prior to his final season in 2017 as he entered his age 33 year. Thomas then suffered a career-ending torn triceps injury in Game 7 that season, ending his consecutive snaps played streak at 10,363.
One major difference in the career paths of these two legendary Browns offensive linemen is that Thomas toiled for a perennial loser while Bitonio finds himself a vital cog on a legit division title contender. The Browns were 1-22 in Thomas’ final 23 games, 4-35 over his last 39. The Browns are coming off an 11-7 season and second playoff appearance in four years.
“I don’t think we’re satisfied with that,” Bitonio said. “I think early in my career, I was like, ‘Hey, let’s make the playoffs.’ And now it’s like ‘We gotta win some games in the playoffs.’ You gotta make some things happen, especially as you get older in your career. You don’t know how many years you have left of playing and, and now you feel like you’re squandering opportunities when you lose those games. But the expectations, you know, you always want to try and win your division to start and then you kind of go from there. But yeah, losing in the first round or the Wild Card is, is not what we, how we want to end our season.”
Bitonio is signed through 2025, when his cap number balloons from $12.135 million to $22.925 million.
Many perennial Pro Bowl offensive linemen play well into their late 30s. Trent Williams, one of the best left tackles in the game, is entering his age 36 season with the 49ers.
But there’s no doubt that it was with one eye on Bitonio’s career longevity and the other on right guard Wyatt Teller’s 2025 salary cap bump that inspired GM Andrew Berry to use his third-round draft pick this year on Michigan guard Zak Zinter.
Speaking of Zinter, Bitonio observed, “Obviously, he has a pedigree of coming from a prestigious university and playing in some big-time games there. He seems like he’s just kind of being a good rookie, which is absorbing everything in the meeting room and not doing anything too crazy. So from that perspective, I think it’s been good and he seems like he’s willing to learn. Once I get out on the field with them, we’ll be able to see a little bit more, but just from the makeup and the type of guy I’ve heard he is and what I’ve seen I think it’s when you add to the room and it’s only gonna be positive.”
Kicking volunteers?
Special teams coordinators continue to think outside the box when preparing for the new hybrid kickoff format.
One of the consequences of the new format is that it will expose the kicker to more potential tackling opportunities. This has led Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub to explore the possibility of using safety Justin Reid as a kickoff specialist in place of kicker Harrison Butker. Reid was an emergency fill-in for Butker in the opening game of the 2022 season.
The point would be to add an extra defensive player to the play who might not be accountable from the return team.
Toub said he watched every kickoff of the XFL season from which the new hybrid format was borrowed and he estimated kickers were involved in 25 to 40 percent of tackles on kickoffs. “Involved” means influencing a tackle, making it, or missing completely on it
So I asked Browns special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone if he would consider making such a switch.
Ventrone is hesitant to commit for the following reasons: 1. He puts a high priority on placing the kickoff as close to the goal line as possible and he thinks there’s a special skill in consistently doing it that a non-kicker wouldn’t have; 2. The possibility of a leg injury increases when a non-kicker uses muscles in a way he wouldn’t ordinarily do.
Ventrone, however, wouldn’t rule out the possibility of polling players on their experience in kicking off.
Stefanski conceded, “Obviously, if you had a position player that you felt could be consistent in ball placement, that’d be an advantage.”
Backup safety D’Anthony Bell was called on as an emergency kicker in the Christmas Eve game in Houston after Dustin Hopkins pulled a hamstring chasing Houston returner Dameon Pierce and punter Corey Bojorquez pulled a quad muscle on his first kickoff replacing Hopkins.
Bell, who had kicking experience in high school, had on squib kickoff to the Texans’ 32-yard line in the fourth quarter of that Browns’ rout.
Brownie bits
The holdup in announcing contract extensions for Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski is that one of the agents involved has been pre-occupied with contract negotiations for some high-profile players. One of the extensions is done and the other is imminent, according to a source. The Browns want to announce both at the same time …
Stefanski dismissed a quote from Jameis Winston from last week’s OTA media availability in which the backup quarterback noted that offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey was calling plays at that practice. Stefanski said, “We rotate at practice. I don’t always radio the plays into practice. I never have. We’ve always mixed it up.” So Stefanski still isn’t disclosing whether he or Dorsey will be the main offensive play-caller this season …
Running back Nick Chubb was among a small group of players that did not play in the charity golf outing but was on hand to mingle with sponsors. Stefanski’s update on Chubb’s progress from two major knee surgeries: “No update. Nick’s continuing to do well, saw him this morning, but no update per se.” …
Media will attend Wednesday’s OTA session. Mandatory minicamp follows next Tuesday through Thursday.