NFL Power Rankings: Post-free agency
By John Buhler
Cleveland Browns
AFC, North
Though it doesn’t have a name year, The Process/Moneyball concepts to team building have found their way to Northeast Ohio and into the long-suffering Cleveland Browns culture. The Browns were the worst team in football last year, but had the respect of the league for how hard they played with little to no transformative talent.
While they are expected to be a big player in the 2017 NFL Draft, Cleveland dominated the headlines in the early part of free agency for all the right reasons. That was atypical of the old Browns way of doing things and it was awesome to watch it all unfold.
Browns general manager Sashi Brown was able immediately upgrade his porous offensive line by signing center J.C. Tretter away from the Green Bay Packers and guard Kevin Zeitler away from the arch rival Cincinnati Bengals.
Adding Kenny Britt to offset the lost of Terrelle Pryor is at least a push, albeit an expensive one. Then there was the Brock Osweiler trade with the Houston Texans that nobody outside of one guy on Reddit saw comic. There was method to that madness and it was pure football genius. Cleveland will benefit from that trade in the short-term and in the long run.
However, the Browns are still a few years away from being playoff viable. That being said, the AFC North hasn’t looked this weak since 2002’s realignment. Cleveland may have entered this offseason at rock bottom, but don’t be shocked if the Browns win roughly six games this year. Slowly but surely, things are going to get easier in Cleveland.