NFL franchise all-time power rankings: Which organization comes out on top?

26. Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns have one of the longest histories in the league … well we suppose that depends. Are we talking about this Cleveland Browns team as if they are the Cleveland Browns? Is this Jim Brown’s Cleveland Browns or is this the franchise that returned to the NFL in 1999? Is this the franchise of Otto Graham or Johnny Manziel? 

Of course, if it’s the latter, this is probably the franchise that is last on this list. The Browns have been one of the worst teams in the league in most years. That has caused desperation that leaves them in even deeper holes. Just look at the Deshaun Watson deal. The Browns went all in on a controversial quarterback who literally drove away fans, and then they gave him a fully guaranteed contract. After that, he hasn’t even been good.

That’s the new-era Browns in a nutshell. They finally have a Super Bowl-worthy roster, but they blew it on the wrong quarterback. Since rejoining the league 25 years ago, they’ve had exactly three seasons where one quarterback started every game. Baker Mayfield did it twice, and Tim Couch did it once in 2001. They’ve had the first-overall pick four times since rejoining the league. In 1999, they took Tim Couch over Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper, Champ Bailey, and Edgerrin James. In 2000, they took Courtney Brown over LaVar Arrington, Brian Urlacher, and Jamal Lewis (who went to the former Browns in the Baltimore Ravens). Nobody is arguing about 2017, when they took Myles Garrett, however, they could have had Patrick Mahomes. They surprised everyone in 2018 when they took Baker Mayfield, but they really should have taken Josh Allen.

That’s just a small example of issues with the current version of the Browns, but the previous Browns era wasn’t too bad. They joined the All-America Football Conference in 1946, and they won all four league championships before being absolved into the NFL in 1950. In their first year in the NFL, they beat the Rams for the NFL Championship. They went on to win four NFL Championships before failing to do much of anything in the Super Bowl era. How important were those championships? It was enough for the NFL to prioritize bringing football back to Cleveland.