Browns Face More Pressure Than Any Team in NFL to Finally Become True Contenders

The Cleveland Browns are entering a make-or-break season based on the moves they've made over the past two years. Anything less than a playoff appearance with a good showing in the postseason should signal significant change.

Considering the team failed to make the postseason in each of the last two seasons, they have an uphill climb, especially in the AFC North.

"I think that we have expectations to go to the playoffs," owner Jimmy Haslam told reporters at March's NFL Annual Meeting. "I'm not going to say if we don't make the playoffs, X, Y, Z happens because that'll be the headline tomorrow. Listen, the AFC is tough. You've all been around. Our division is tough."

Despite Haslam's comments, the implication is evident. He may not have set forth an ultimatum, but it sure sounded like one.

The Browns don't have any more excuses. They're not rebuilding anymore. They have the overall talent. They got their quarterback. They improved the coaching staff. It's time to win and do so at high level.

No other franchise is currently in a position where Cleveland sits. The Browns didn't make the playoffs last season yet expectations are sky high. If things don't go as planned, they have an owner with a hair trigger likely to blow up the current setup.

"We were all disappointed," Haslam said of last season's outcome. "None of us thought we'd be 7-10 even with Jacoby (Brissett) playing 11 games, Deshaun missing 11 games, however you want to say it. We were all disappointed—very disappointed. Like I said, the desire to win in that building, whether it's ownership—I'm just repeating myself—or personnel, coaches is extremely high. We've got high standards so we expect to do better."

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On paper, general manager Andrew Berry built one of the league's best rosters. The Browns had specific flaws last year that couldn't be overlooked for another season, and they weren't.

A lack of emphasis placed on the defensive interior, which greatly affected the entire scheme, changed dramatically this offseason. Instead of trying to get by with the likes of Taven Bryan, Malik McDowell, an aging Malik Jackson and a smattering of mid-round draft picks, Berry signed proven veterans Dalvin Tomlinson and Shelby Harris to man the middle of the defensive front. The former didn't come cheap.

Tomlinson signed the second-most lucrative free-agent deal among defensive tackles at $57 million over four seasons. But he's arguably the toughest interior defender at the point of attack that Cleveland fielded over the last decade.

Harris signed for significantly less (one-year, $3.5 million), but the 32-year-old veteran has been a consistent presence in the middle of multiple defenses.

Berry didn't stop at the defensive tackle. Myles Garrett needed help off the edge. Garrett may find himself in the annual NFL Defensive Player of the Year conversations, but he's never really had a true bookend.

The Browns signed Ogbonnia Okoronkwo to a three-year $19 million free-agent contract. Then, the team traded for three-time Pro Bowl edge defender Za'Darius Smith. As USA Today's Doug Farrar noted, this newly minted duo amassed 144 total pressures last season.

Cleveland isn't just better along their defensive line; this group can be outright dominant.

On the back end of the defense, the team upgraded when it released safety John Johnson III and signed Juan Thornhill to a three-year $21 million deal.

"We place a premium on those veterans that can come in and be great examples to your young players on how to be a pro," head coach Kevin Stefanski said last week. "And Juan is one of many guys that we have in that building right now that can do that.

"When you've had the team success that he's experienced with the [Kansas City] Chiefs, it just gives instant credibility to your team that this is a guy that knows what it takes, knows how much work has to go into it."

Offensively, everything starts with Deshaun Watson and whether the former NFL passing yardage leader in 2020 returns to form.

The Browns organization upset the rest of the league when it acquired the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback (and a '24 sixth-round draft pick) from the Houston Texans for three first-round and '22 and '24 fourth-round selections, then signed the quarterback to a fully guaranteed $230 million contract.

For decades, the Browns desperately searched for a franchise quarterback. They've been looking for the next Bernie Kosar since Bill Belichick released the hometown hero during the 1993 season.

Watson has all the talent to be the player the Browns sought for so long. But he clearly wasn't the same performer upon returning to the field after 23-month layoff that included last season's 11-game league suspension for violating the NFL's personal-conduct policy stemming from 24 cases of sexual assault.

The Browns will go as far as Watson takes them, because they are in a division that features Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and ascending Kenny Pickett. The rest of the AFC also features Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Aaron Rodgers and Trevor Lawrence.

"If you're asking me, I haven't played ball, I haven't played enough football the last few years to even be up there [among the top quarterbacks]," Watson told ESPN's Jake Trotter. "So I got to go out there and prove and show what I got to do to get back in those conversations."

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Too much of an investment has been sunk into Watson for the Browns not to do everything in their power to make him successful again. As such, Berry went about adding far more speed and explosivity around the quarterback position. Wide receiver Elijah Moore, Marquise Goodwin and rookie Cedric Tillman were acquired to join Amari Cooper. The organization recently added running back Pierre Strong Jr., too.

Goodwin runs a sub-4.3-second 40-yard dash. Both Moore and Strong are solid 4.3 guys. Tillman doesn't have the same juice, but he proved at Tennessee against SEC competition and his first preseason that he can be a vertical threat.

When tight end David Njoku and one of the game's best offensive lines are thrown into the mix, the Browns' offense should cook. If it doesn't, Stefanski will likely find himself in Haslam's crosshairs.

Improvements to the coaching staff serve as a double-edge sword, because there's no one left to blame if this season doesn't go according to plan.

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Yes, Jim Schwartz is a massive upgrade over Joe Woods as defensive play-caller. Schwartz has a track record of leading one of the league's most aggressive defenses, and he has the players along his defensive front to consistently wreak havoc on opposing offenses.

Meanwhile, Bubba Ventrone is widely considered one of the game's better special teams coordinators. Mike Priefer's units were wildly inconsistent, specifically in the kicking games. Ventrone's stamp has already been felt, with the Browns cutting second-year kicker Cade York, whom the team selected in last year's fourth round. As a result, the organization traded for veteran Dustin Hopkins to fill the void.

While both hires should be viewed as positive gains, Stefanski doesn't have any potential scapegoats on his staff if things go awry since he already hired two new coordinators and calls the offensive plays himself.

Expectations must finally meet reality. There's only one way to go if Cleveland's season doesn't show significant promise, and it's not running it back for yet another year. Stefanski resides on the hot seat entering the '23 campaign. Berry's backside could get warm rather quickly as well. Haslam, meanwhile, will continue searching for the winning formula.

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Brent Sobleski covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @brentsobleski.