MYLES GARRETT WALKED up to the dais in the Cleveland Browns' media room on March 14, wearing an all-brown suit -- a color that just weeks before seemed unlikely he'd ever wear again.
Colorful dinosaur figurines adorned the ledge in front of the star defensive end. Cupcakes, decorated with an animated caricature of Garrett sitting on a dinosaur, greeted the media, Garrett's representatives and family, and Cleveland's top decision-makers as they entered the room in a state of excitement mixed with great relief.
The decor was a nod to Garrett's love for the prehistoric animals -- and more importantly to celebrate a reconciliation between the franchise and its cornerstone player. On Feb. 3, on the heels of a 3-14 season that Garrett called the most disappointing of his professional career, the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year publicly announced a trade request to a "contender." A little more than a month later -- after intense and continued dialogue about the state and future of the team -- the two sides had bridged the gap that led to Garrett's discontent and consummated a then-record-setting extension that averages $40 million per year.
The reconciliation and new contract were among many decisions over the course of the offseason that have set the stage for a transitional season in Cleveland. It's one devoid of grand expectations externally; ESPN BET sets the team's win total at a league-low 4.5. However, with an influx of young talent, pressing quarterback questions and two rookie passers waiting in the wings, the 2025 season, which begins at home against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, Fox), will shape the direction of the Browns' future as the team holds tight a pair of 2026 first-round draft picks in what is expected to be a quarterback-rich class.
"Expectations are higher than ever," Garrett said as training camp opened in late July. "I expect to bounce back from last year, myself and defensively and as a team. So, the standard doesn't change or at least it doesn't lower. It just raises and improves. I think we have guys who are older, understand both sides of the coin. ...The margins for this game are very thin."
GARRETT STOOD BEHIND a lectern in the visiting team's interview room at M&T Bank Stadium on Jan. 4, lamenting a three-win season that he called more discouraging than the 0-16 campaign he endured as a rookie.
The Browns had hopes of building on an 11-6 season and a trip to the first round of the 2023 playoffs as they overcame myriad injuries, especially at the quarterback position.
Instead, a 25-point blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18 capped a moribund season in which the Browns were starting their fourth quarterback in Bailey Zappe.
Deshaun Watson, the $230 million quarterback who was acquired and signed to catapult the Browns to contention, was sidelined by a ruptured right Achilles tendon, his second straight year with a season-ending injury. Watson has played in just 19 of a possible 51 Browns games, and his 33.1 Total QBR since making his debut in Cleveland would rank above only Tennessee Titans QB Will Levis if Watson had enough starts to qualify.
Watson begins the 2025 season on the physically unable to perform list, and the team expects him to miss a significant portion of the season. Before his injury, Watson led an offense that failed to eclipse 20 points in any of his seven starts in 2024, and the quarterbacks that supplanted him -- Zappe, Jameis Winston and Dorian Thompson-Robinson -- failed to provide consistency in his stead as Cleveland finished last in scoring (15.2 points per game).
"This is probably a more disappointing season [than the 0-16 season in 2017]," Garrett said, "because of what we expected out of ourselves and what we were building the year before."
As the season ended and whispers stirred about the job security of coach Kevin Stefanski, a two-time NFL Coach of the Year, he still had the support of owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam despite a 40-44 record in five seasons. So did general manager Andrew Berry, who has steered the organization alongside Stefanski since 2020.
On two separate occasions, in April and most recently in July, the Haslams voiced their unequivocal support for the decision-making duo who each received extensions in June 2024.
"We're very supportive of Kevin and Andrew," Jimmy Haslam said at the start of training camp. "Now, do they need to do better? Yeah, but so do Dee and I. You know what I mean? And these are high-pressure jobs they have, but we really like them in their roles as coach and GM, and we really like them as people."
Both Stefanski, 43, and Berry, 38, had been in constant communication with ownership throughout the 2024 season. And even before the season went off the rails, there was an understanding and plan years in advance for the team to do what Berry called "strategically pivot" at his end-of-season news conference in January. An underwhelming season with one of the oldest rosters in the NFL -- Cleveland entered Week 1 last season with a league-high 14 players aged 30 or older -- only underscored the Browns' reality.
CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN GARRETT and the Browns' higher-ups on the direction of the franchise -- and Garrett's discontent with those talks -- led to his trade request the week of the Super Bowl. He later said that he and the franchise were not aligned on the team's prospects for winning in the near future.
Garrett, specifically, wanted to know the direction of the offense, the state of the coaching staff and recently told ESPN in an exclusive interview that how the team would handle the quarterback position was among his "most pressing concern." The Browns had already fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey one day after the season ended and later promoted tight ends coach Tommy Rees to the position.
Stefanski also announced he would reassume playcalling duties after relinquishing it midseason, signs the Browns would return to the offensive scheme he operated in his first couple of years as coach before tweaking it to fit Watson's skill set. The return to Stefanski's scheme was welcomed by multiple veterans, including offensive linemen Joel Bitonio and Jack Conklin.
Garrett publicly and privately stated his desire not to go through another rebuild. And a source with knowledge of Garret's thinking said the defensive end preferred a veteran quarterback who could contribute -- with the understanding Cleveland wasn't in a position to spend lucratively and would likely also be bringing in a rookie quarterback. Despite Garrett's trade request, Berry remained steadfast in not being open to trading the 2017 first overall pick. The two sides stayed in communication with the Browns keeping Garrett updated on their plans for the coming months. On March 9, three days before the start of free agency, Garrett agreed to a four-year extension worth $160 million, which at the time made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
"After the last game, I can tell you the spirits weren't high," Garrett said. "... But they did what they were supposed to. Taking care of business, trying to keep the core group together, me, Joel, and finding a quarterback, and with enough conversation, was able to get everyone back on board."
BERRY SAT AT a round table at the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 30, surrounded by a scrum of local media at the league's annual meeting. Plenty of quarterback questions swarmed the Browns. To that point, Cleveland had added one quarterback -- trading for 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett one day after agreeing to the Garrett extension -- and was putting the finishing touches on pro day visits to get an up-close look at top quarterback prospects in the 2025 draft.
The machinations of the Browns renovating their quarterback room were already in high gear.
The Browns intended to bring in a low-cost, veteran bridge quarterback or a younger and low-cost but potentially higher-upside quarterback, in addition to drafting a rookie passer. Cleveland found its low-cost swing in Pickett but was reluctant to spend significant money on free agent quarterbacks, per multiple team sources.
The team pursued Daniel Jones and hosted Russell Wilson on a visit, but both veteran QBs signed deals that Cleveland had little desire to match, multiple team sources said. The Browns' reluctance to openly commit to what they were doing with the No. 2 pick also complicated matters with free agent quarterbacks who were wary of being backdoored by a top rookie.
The Browns' plans for the pick, though, were still up in the air weeks before the draft. At the league meeting, Berry acknowledged that trading up with the Titans for the top pick was unlikely; Tennessee was homing in on quarterback Cam Ward, whom the Browns would have taken at No. 2 according to a source with knowledge of the Browns' thinking. It was also in Palm Beach that Jacksonville Jaguars first-year GM James Gladstone approached Berry about the possibility of trading up from the fifth pick.
"The initial thought process was this gives us really the opportunity to walk a number of different paths," Berry told the "With the First Pick" podcast. "Coming off of a disappointing year and having uncertainty around the quarterback position as well as a core group of players that were really entering the end of their career, we knew we were due for a strategic pivot.
"... For us, where our team's life cycle was, we felt that was a real meaningful opportunity for us to get other really good players but replenish the resources that we have to build the team over this year and next," Berry said on the podcast.
As those draft trade discussions heated up in the coming weeks, the Browns' decision-makers left Palm Beach and put a wrap on their pro day visits with a high-profile trip to Boulder, Colorado, to dine with two-way WR/CB star Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders, as well as watch their workouts. Cleveland brass, though, also traveled to Eugene, Oregon, one day before to work out Dillon Gabriel.
The six-year quarterback who played for three collegiate programs (UCF, Oklahoma and Oregon) impressed the Browns with his recall of concepts and processing. While the Browns didn't have concerns about his 5-foot-11 stature, there were questions about Gabriel's arm strength. The team put the 24-year-old through a private workout to assess his arm; a different type of workout than a prospect such as Ward went through and who didn't garner any questions about his arm talent, according to the source with knowledge of the Browns' thinking. Cleveland put Gabriel through an assortment of throws to ensure his arm could reach all parts of the field. The organization left the workout confident in Gabriel's skills.
In the aftermath of Wilson signing with the New York Giants, the Browns homed in on Joe Flacco, who came to Cleveland late in the 2023 season and helped lead the team to the playoffs. Two weeks before the draft, the Browns signed the 40-year-old Flacco to a one-year, $4 million deal. With the Titans set to take Ward with the top pick, the Browns had the parameters of their trade with the Jaguars in place. On the opening night of the draft, the Browns traded the No. 2 pick for a package that included the fifth pick (used on defensive lineman Mason Graham), the No. 36 overall (running back Quinshon Judkins), the No. 126 pick (running back Dylan Sampson) and a 2026 first-round pick.
In the third round, the Browns selected Gabriel with the No. 94 overall pick, seemingly completing the renovation of their quarterback room. But Sanders, with whom the team spent significant time throughout the predraft process, continued a surprising drop through the first two days of the draft. As the second night of the draft came to a close, Berry met with the team's top decision-makers about possibly selecting Sanders if he continued to fall. And in the fifth round, the Browns traded up to the No. 144 pick to select the second-team All-American.
The Browns didn't necessarily enter the draft with intentions to select two quarterbacks. According to the same source with knowledge of the Browns' thinking, Cleveland had intended to add another young quarterback at some point, and the team had designed practice schedules well in advance of the draft that would allow each passer to get adequate reps without tiring the entire team. Thus, the idea of breaking the offense into two fields for team drills was born.
But ultimately, Sanders' value in the fifth round became too glaring to ignore.
"Really, the acquisition cost was pretty light, and it's a guy that we think can outproduce his draft slot," Berry said.
IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE draft, Berry and Stefanski were asked about Sanders competing for the starting job. The son of Pro Football Hall of Famer and Colorado coach Deion Sanders, Shedeur was ESPN's draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.'s top-rated quarterback prospect before falling to Day 3.
"We expect every player to compete. Simple as that," Berry said.
As the Browns' training camp unfolded in late July and early August, there was a clear delineation among the quarterbacks when it came to practice reps. The veteran QBs and Gabriel received first-team reps, while Sanders often practiced with the second- and third-string units.
Pickett suffering a hamstring injury on the fourth day of camp led to an anticlimactic finish for what was billed as a four-way competition; Flacco took the overwhelming majority of first-team reps and was named the starter for Week 1 ahead of Cleveland's preseason finale.
"Joe, having done it at a high level, has done it here as well, that lends itself to confidence in himself and confidence from his teammates," Stefanski said.
With the Browns trading Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders last week, a clearer pathway has been created for the Browns to evaluate the rookie quarterbacks ahead of the 2026 draft. When asked if it was important to see Gabriel and Sanders on the field this season, Jimmy Haslam answered, "Absolutely."
Gabriel begins the season as the Browns' backup. But the quantity and quality of his practice reps with the first-team offense signal that he could play soon. Sanders, who impressed in the preseason opener at the Carolina Panthers but struggled in the preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams at home, will be the No. 3 and emergency quarterback on game days. During the local broadcast of the final preseason game, Berry likened Sanders' transition from his Colorado scheme to the pros as someone who was "fluent in English and now you have to learn Mandarin."
"[Gabriel] gained a lot of trust from the coaching staff just in terms of how he worked, and we feel good about it," Browns assistant GM Glenn Cook said. "So, look, every player is a play away, and I know Dillon's going to prepare and put himself in position, and if he needs to be ready, he'll be ready."
History suggests the Browns will see one, if not both, rookies play this season. The franchise has started a league-high 40 quarterbacks since returning to Cleveland in 1999 -- and 11 during the Stefanski-Berry regime.
Throughout the roller coaster of an offseason, Jimmy Haslam has preached patience -- a quality he acknowledged he hasn't exuded in years past -- with rebuilding the core after being bereft of high-end draft capital in the aftermath of the trade for Watson. At the league meeting, Haslam took accountability for the transaction and called it a "big swing-and-miss."
The Browns went three straight years without a first-round pick after trading for Watson in March 2022. Cleveland's Week 1 roster features 12 rookies, and the team is slated to have 10 draft picks in the 2026 draft, but several players from the 2023 playoff team remain.
"We have a majority of our team back from two years ago when we went 11-6 and made the playoffs and made a run," Bitonio said. "We do know we have to play better and we have to improve and do some things right, but I think the mentality of the team and the work we're going to try and do gives us that optimism."
Success for the Browns in 2025 could be defined by wins -- and in clarity. Cleveland will soon discover what it has from its rookie class -- especially at quarterback -- and those developments will chart the Browns' path for their next offseason and beyond.
"We made the decision last year to take a step back after last year's disaster," Haslam said. "And looking at our roster and knowing that we needed a quarterback to do this over a two- or three-year period ...
"We talk about it openly. Now, could we take a big jump in one year? Yes, but we talk about we're not going to panic."