BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns have had only two winning seasons and one trip to the postseason since their return to the National Football League in 1999, but with the emergence of young talent on both sides of the ball and the offseason acquisition of Pro Bowl receiver Odell Beckham Jr., expectations are high heading into the 2019 season.
According to owner Dee Haslam, the goal for the year’s team is simple.
“I think the expectation is to win,” Dee Haslam said while addressing the media Sunday. “I think that is everybody’s expectation.”
Jimmy Haslam added, “At the same time, it is six weeks until the first game. It is a long season and a long grind. We still have a very young team. We integrated some new players. They have to be assimilated into a team. We have a lot of work to do.”
At 2-5-1 following a 33-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 28 and in the middle of an unprecedented midseason coaching staff upheaval following the dismissals of Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley with eight games left to play, the 2018 Browns looked to be anything but a team capable of the greatest year-to-year turnaround in franchise history.
However, a 5-3 record over the second half of the season and a three-game winning streak in December secured the Browns’ highest single-season improvement in team history, as they finished plus-7.5 in wins over 2017’s winless campaign.
“We are excited for the organization, the players, the coaches, the personnel, ourselves and everybody who puts in the time and hard work, but we are most excited -- you know the area as well or better than we do -- for the fans because these are the greatest sports fans I have ever been around,” Jimmy Haslam said. “They deserve to have a really good football team.
“We only won seven games last year. Obviously, a lot better than the prior two, we understand that. It looks like we have put together a really good team, but we have to go out and win games and win consistently.
“If you look at our schedule, it is a tough schedule and our division is tough. Everybody knows that. Our track record against particularly Pittsburgh and Baltimore and even Cincinnati is not very good. Enough talk. We have to go out and win games now.”
Although the Browns finished the 2018 season with a strong showing, they were still 7-8-1 on the year and in third place in the AFC North Division.
In order to improve that, the Haslams know it is a day-to-day process.
“Clearly, it looks like we have put together a good team, but right now, everybody is focused on getting better today,” Jimmy Haslam said. “We try to get better Sunday. We try to get better Monday, Tuesday is an off day and we try to get better again Wednesday.”
