BEREA, Ohio -- Despite the firings of head coach Mike Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer following Sunday's 28-12 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at FirstEnergy Stadium, veteran tight end Gary Barnidge does not regret re-signing with the Cleveland Browns.
After suffering through three losing seasons, Barnidge believes the Browns (3-13) can turn things around, and that is why Barnidge felt comfortable reaching a long-term agreement with the team with a month left in the regular season.
"I'm glad to be here in Cleveland," Barnidge said. "I want to be here when we turn this thing around and I still believe we can. I'm still excited about being here and I'm looking forward to turning things around. I have confidence we can do that here."
Barnidge was happy to remain in Cleveland because of his belief in the vision of owner Jimmy Haslam, with whom he requested and had a meeting prior to reaching that long-term extension. And that faith in Haslam has not changed, despite the Browns now having a former lawyer, Sashi Brown, with final say over the 53-man roster.
"He said we're going to get things going," Barnidge said of Haslam's meeting with the team. "We're going to get the right guy in place and improve. The conversation we had will stay between me and him. I have confidence in what he decides and I look forward to being here.
"(Sashi) said we're going to get things turned around and that we're going to get things on the right track. It wasn't a super long meeting, just a great meeting. We had other things we had to get done, obviously, but I'm excited about it. I think we'll be fine."
Over the last few weeks of the regular season, Barnidge reached a long-term contract extension with the Browns, was named an alternate to the Pro Bowl and was selected by the franchise as their Walter Payton Man of the Year candidate, and that list got a little longer as he was named the Player of the Year by the local chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) last week.
The Browns' 2015 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award winner for his off-the-field work in the community, Barnidge more than tripled many of his single-season career highs this year. Barnidge turned a team-leading 79 receptions into 1,043 yards and a Browns-best nine touchdowns.
Prior to 2015, Barnidge's career bests for receptions (13) and touchdowns (two) came in 2013, his first year in Cleveland. Last year, Barnidge set a single-season personal best for receiving yards with 156.
"I don't really attribute it just to the offense," Barnidge said. "I think it's the way we played as a team. It wasn't really just one person or the way the plays were designed. They weren't designed for one person to succeed. It was for the team to succeed."
And team success is exactly what Barnidge wants for the Browns in the near future.
"It's happened to other teams," Barnidge said. "You can win next year. You never know what's going to happen. You just have to be ready to go each year."
