Can the Browns win eight games on this schedule? My crystal ball says yes.
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Would Browns fans sign up for an 8-9 season in 2025 followed by a quarterback taken in the first round of the 2026 draft?
Fasten your seat belts. Because my crystal ball tells me both will happen.
Let’s start with the second prognostication.
Why do you think the Browns’ top decision-makers – owner Jimmy Haslam, GM Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski – attended two college games on Saturday? Stefanski had never attended one college game in his five previous seasons as Browns coach, let alone two in the same day.
Air Haslam whisked them to Ohio State v. Texas in Columbus for Arch Manning’s season debut, and then to Clemson, SC, for the duel between Louisiana State’s Garrett Nussmeier and Clemson’s Cade Klubnik – the pre-season favorites to be the top two quarterbacks in the 2026 draft.
I don’t know if they moved on to Atlanta on Sunday for South Carolina v. Virginia Tech in LaNorris Sellers’ debut, but I do know the Browns had at least one scout in attendance. And then assistant GM Glenn Cook was dispatched to Carson Beck’s debut with Miami against Notre Dame on Sunday night.
Regardless of how these QBs performed in their first games of the 2025 season, the bottom line is the Browns will be bird-dogging them all year. Along with Drew Allar of Penn State, Sam Leavitt of Arizona State and Fernando Mendoza of Indiana.
Unless they all fall on their face, book it now that the Browns will be an active player in the 2026 quarterback draft.
Now, does that mean the Browns will tank for optimum draft position?
On the contrary, my crystal ball sees them easily exceeding the 4.5 or 5.5 projected win totals touted by the sports books.
I have the Browns going 8-9 and finishing just a game behind the Pittsburgh Steelers for, yes, another fourth-place finish in the AFC North. A five-win improvement over the 2024 3-14 record should be regarded as a major step forward as the Browns execute their exit strategy from the Deshaun Watson era.
Fret not where the Browns place in the draft order with their own pick. They also own Jacksonville’s first pick, plus – for now – extra picks in the fifth and sixth rounds. They will be able to position themselves high enough to select one of the top quarterbacks.
The Browns believe their quarterback taken in the 2026 draft will be the one to usher in a new era when the team christens its state-of-the-art covered stadium and mixed-use development project in Brook Park in 2029.
What does this mean for 2025 rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders? I can’t give it all away. Let it play out.
In the meantime, my crystal ball also sees the following:
* Buffalo (13-4), Baltimore (12-5), Houston (11-6) and Kansas City (11-6) will win their divisions, and Cincinnati (10-7), Denver (10-7) and Los Angeles Chargers (10-7) will be the wild cards in the AFC playoff field.
* Philadelphia (11-6), Detroit (13-4), Tampa Bay (10-7) and Los Angeles Rams (11-6) will win their divisions, and Washington (11-6), Green Bay (12-5) and Minnesota (10-7) will be the wild cards in the AFC playoff field.
* The AFC conference finalists will be Buffalo and Kansas City.
* The NFC conference finalists will be Detroit and Los Angeles Rams.
* Buffalo will win the Super Bowl against Detroit.
* Josh Allen will be named MVP for the second year in a row.
* Myles Garrett’s 20 sacks will earn him his second defensive player-of-the-year award.
* Jahmyr Gibbs of Detroit will win offensive player of the year.
* Ashton Jeanty of the Raiders will be named offensive rookie of the year.
* Carson Schwesinger of the Browns will be named defensive rookie of the year.
* Joe Flacco will start more than 10 games for the Browns.
* The biggest coaching move after the season will involve Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin. He will step down, but not retire.
* Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman will be courted by more than one NFL team. He will succeed Tomlin in Pittsburgh.
* Another contemporary of Tom Brady will gain partial ownership of an NFL franchise and be given an important role in operations.
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