NFL Rumors: Browns' Kevin Stefanski 'Not Going Anywhere' amid Hot Seat Speculation

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski is not on the hot seat despite speculation otherwise.

"Kevin Stefanski, to my knowledge, based on everything I know, is not going anywhere," NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said on the The Insiders Thursday (h/t NFL.com's Eric Edholm).

"I assume people will still be asking. It has been an unfortunate season. They don't have the results they wanted. But I would be beyond stunned if Kevin Stefanski was not the Browns' coach next year."

Rapoport's comments would align with ESPN's Adam Schefter reporting on Thursday's edition of Get Up! (h/t ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi).

The 42-year-old Stefanski is in his fifth year coaching the Browns, who have bottomed out to 2-8 this season. He's led Cleveland to a 39-38 regular season record and two playoff appearances during his tenure.

This year has undoubtedly been a disastrous campaign for the Browns, who are playing out the string of a lost season.

Cleveland is notably second-last in points per game, much of which had to do with the historically poor performance of quarterback Deshaun Watson over the team's first seven matchups.

However, the defense hasn't fared well either, landing 24th in the NFL in points allowed per game. Cleveland has given up 20 or more points in nine of its 10 matchups.

This season doesn't feature any easy matchups on paper down the stretch either, with five of the Browns' final seven games occurring against teams with winning records.

The other two are against the Cincinnati Bengals (who went on the road to beat the Browns 21-14 earlier this year) and the Miami Dolphins (who have fared much better of late following quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's return from a concussion).

So this season could end ugly, perhaps adding more fuel to the hot seat fire. Looking at the big picture, though, Stefanski has done something (win a playoff game) that no Browns coach was able to do since the franchise's return to the NFL in 1999. Cleveland also made the playoffs just once from 1999-2019, and Stefanski has doubled that amount in his first four years.

In addition, he just signed a contract extension with the team last offseason. It wouldn't make much sense for the Browns to cut bait after that decision despite one bad year.

Next year is an important one for Cleveland, though. At this point, the Browns need to find a long-term solution at quarterback given Watson's performance and a torn Achilles suffered last October. The Browns' offensive fortunes could very well turn around with a new signal-caller. Backup Jameis Winston has clearly helped, to the point where he led the Browns to a massive 29-24 upset win over the Baltimore Ravens.

The defense, which has clearly regressed this season, needs to find some answers too. Cleveland has some star pieces in place with edge-rusher Myles Garrett and cornerback Denzel Ward but needs to continue building around them.

But by all accounts, it looks like Stefanski will be back in 2025 to try to turn the ship around. It may be tough considering the brutally competitive nature of the AFC North, but he deserves another chance given his past resume.