By:
Benjamin Solak July 19th, 2021 2021-07-19T11:01:00.000Z The Draft Network
Photo: Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports
You wanna call the Cleveland Browns a contender? I sure want to call the Cleveland Browns a contender. Would be fun. But if you want to be considered a contender, you have to beat a contender.
Don’t get it twisted: the Browns were definitely good last year. The Browns of yesteryear, even when they had some roster talent, would lose stupid games to bad teams. And while they certainly played the Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, Cincinnati Bengals, and Jacksonville Jaguars all closer than perhaps they should have—three of those teams ended up with top-five draft picks—they escaped with wins before eventually dropping a Week 16 stinker against the New York Jets (another top-five pick) that nearly knocked them out of the playoffs.