The Browns aren't winning the Super Bowl next year, but the Seahawks might have given them a template.
No, you’re not about to read the case for why the Browns will make it to the Super Bowl next season. In fact, if you were making me make a way-too-early prediction, I more than likely wouldn’t even have them in the playoffs.
Regardless of your level of optimism, the Seahawks should provide hope for a Browns team that has a strong defense, especially up front, and has a path to add young talent to the roster. The QB decision that could define Todd Monken’s Browns tenure: Salvage Deshaun Watson or embrace Shedeur Sanders?The Seattle blueprint: How the Browns can mimic a Super Bowl formula with their elite defense This isn’t so much about comparing the Browns to the Seahawks as it is about re-emphasizing some basic team-building concepts the Browns have to nail over the next few months.Darnold’s turnaround is one of the feel-good stories of the season, but it’s worth noting he remained a flawed signal-caller. He turned the ball over 20 times this season — 14 interceptions and six lost fumbles — and the Seahawks made the decision at some point on Sunday against a hungry Patriots defense that they weren’t going to put the game in Darnold’s hands. They settled for field goals and generally played it safe. Darnold played turnover-free football in the playoffs and in the one game when the Seahawks really needed him, he came through in a win over the Rams.The lesson with Darnold isn’t about giving up on a player too soon. It’s about understanding that your quarterback doesn’t have to be Superman if the things around him work. Seattle identified Darnold as the right fit for what they wanted to do with defensive head coach Mike Macdonald running things.The Browns might not find a clear answer at quarterback this offseason. The landscape is still taking shape, but there’s a chance that they are left with some combination of Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson, Dillon Gabriel and a draft pick when the dust settles. Maybe they’ll surprise us and pull off a trade. Maybe a free agent will come available whose cost matches expectations. Whatever happens, the Browns can’t panic. They just need to put the blinders on and execute their plan. Find a quarterback who can prop up the offense enough to let the defense do the heavy lifting.New England struggled throughout the playoffs and Seattle’s front dominated them in the Super Bowl. Now the Patriots are in the unenviable position of having taken a left tackle in the Top 5 of the draft and still not knowing if they have a left tackle of the future.The Browns have one side of the equation figured out with their defensive line. They need to address their offensive line in all phases of the offseason: free agency, the draft and even in the trade market. It doesn’t matter who they choose at quarterback. The offensive line is going to be what makes them go.OK, this is just a general rule as opposed to a lesson from Seattle, but the point stands. There’s a lot of pressure on GM Andrew Berry this April. Talent acquisition is the key to all of this and the Browns are all in on adding talent in this draft. They have four picks on the first two days of the draft and eight in the Top 150.Berry appears to have hit on all four of his first picks from last year’s draft, an impressive accomplishment in a league where a 50% hit rate is worth bragging about. He needed to do it, too, after years of hit and miss selections.Talent is talent, so adding players like Mason Graham, Carson Schwesinger, Quinshon Judkins and Harold Fannin Jr. is nothing to shrug off, even if they aren’t at traditionally high-value positions. This time around, however, he needs offensive linemen — maybe two tackles — and wide receivers, two positions he has struggled to identify consistently. He might get another swing at quarterback.Landing starters on the first two days and solid role players on Day 3 could potentially fast-track this build. It would make 2026 intriguing and turn 2027 into a real season of playoff expectations., but a slow start bogged down by a young offense would only undermine Todd Monken if Schwartz remained the defensive coordinator.If they were so intent on keeping Schwartz, the surest way to do it was to make him their head coach. They chose Monken instead and shouldn’t have been surprised that Schwartz wasn’t on board. Now Monken will get to hire his own guy to run the defense, and it has to be one of the more desirable defensive coordinator jobs out there. The roster is complete with a two-time Defensive Player of the Year playing at his peak, a shutdown cornerback and the Defensive Rookie of the Year at middle linebacker. Schwartz is gone, but his presence will hang over this coaching decision for some time. I think the Browns made the right choice between the two, but the pass/fail nature of the league will give us a real answer soon enough.Moving to a new defensive coordinator will bring some changes, but it won’t impact Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward or Schwesinger much. They can thrive in any system.How the new defensive coordinator deploys players like Grant Delpit, Tyson Campbell and — if they return — Devin Bush and Martin Emerson Jr. is key to unlocking the full potential of that side of the ball. Bush thrived in Schwartz’s downhill attacking scheme. So did Delpit. Campbell was a fit for a man-heavy approach on the outside. Emerson’s length is an asset.. The last two years he struggled to stay healthy and clearly wasn’t moving like he used to. The time feels right for both parties to go their separate ways.Njoku’s departure and the possible departures of Wyatt Teller in free agency and Joel Bitonio to retirement would certainly signal a clear end to an era. It’s hard to define that era because of the up-and-down results, but those three certainly have been fan favorites.The NFL offseason never stops. The combine is two weeks away. It’s the next time we’ll hear from Monken and Berry and it will be time to really dive into the draft.Dan Labbe has been a Browns reporter since 2016. A graduate of Kent State University, he started at cleveland.com in 2006 and has held various roles, including sports producer and social media producer. Prior...
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