Blueprint For Success: How the Browns were built (and what the Miami Dolphins can learn)
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Blueprint for Success: How the Dolphins’ 2019 opponents were built
Our weekly series that examines how the Miami Dolphins’ 2019 opponents built their roster, and what lessons Miami can glean as they build theirs.
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This is the 10th in a series that examines how Miami’s 2019 opponents built their rosters, and what lessons the Dolphins can glean as they build theirs.
Team: Cleveland Browns.
Coach: Freddie Kitchens (first season).
General manager: John Dorsey (third season).
Team owner: James and Dee Haslam.
Franchise value: $2.2 billion.
2018 record: 7-8-1 (third in the AFC North).
2019 record: 4-6 (third in AFC North).
Last playoff appearance: 2002 (lost in the Wild Card round).
Last Super Bowl championship: Never.
Total 2019 payroll: $171.1 million (28th).
Total 2019 AAV: $186.6 million (15th).
Salary cap space: $32.8 million (third).
Dead money: $26.2 million (ninth most).
Percentage of homegrown players: 36 percent.
Overview: The Browns were supposed to be the model. Instead, they’re the cautionary tale. On paper, they have done everything right. They have hoarded draft picks, with 52 in the past five years. They put themselves in position to land not just a top quarterback, but the first quarterback taken in the 2018 draft. Their salary cap is light and flexible, with more than $60 million in space next year — before any cuts they will make this offseason. And yet, they are under-.500, third in the AFC North, and have a locker room that is fraying at the seams. What happened? First — and probably most importantly — Baker Mayfield, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, has been bad in Year 2. He’s the NFL’s lowest-rated quarterback (76.8) among those who qualify. What’s more, the Browns might have made a mistake at head coach, as Freddie Kitchens has looked over his head at times this year. They have allowed 26 sacks despite allocating $32.8 million in cap resources on their offensive line. But what has hurt them more than anything? All of those draft picks have led to very little on-field production. The Browns had 36 selections from 2015 to 2017. Just five remain with the organization, and only two are available to play Sunday against the Dolphins. More Browns notes: They lead the league in cap obligations to receivers ($35 million), are eighth in defensive line spending ($31.7 million) and fourth in defensive backs ($36.2 million). And even still, they have just five players with a cap figure of at least $9 million: Odell Beckham ($17 million), Olivier Vernon ($15.5 million), Jarvis Landry ($14.1 million), Sheldon Richardson ($9.7 million) and Damarious Randall ($9.1 million). Along with having more than $26 million in dead cap space, the Browns also have $19 million on injured reserve and another $9.4 million on the suspended list (most notably the helmet-swinging Myles Garrett, who is out for the season).
The lesson: Trust the process. But verify the people in charge of the process can identify talent. Sashi Brown was a numbers whiz, but all he did was set the table for his successor, John Dorsey. One other suggestion: Don’t whiff on the quarterback. Over the course of three seasons, the Browns passed on Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, Jacoby Brissett, Dak Prescott, Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. Mayfield has yet to prove he’s better than any of them.
He said it: “I think Baker would be the first to tell you he could be better in a lot of areas. So much of what the quarterback does, the good or the bad, has to do with the people around him. I think as we start getting closer and closer to the way we’re supposed to do things the quarterback gets better. ... We put expectations on ourselves, how we prepare and how we practice, how we go about our business. We let the results go where they are. It comes down to execution, at the end of all that. The expectations mean nothing about your performance.” — Browns coach Freddie Kitchens
This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 10:48 AM.
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