University of Colorado coach Deion Sanders went on social media last month to clear up a “lie” that his son, Shedeur, would refuse to play for the Browns or the Giants. Shedeur Sanders could go No. 1 overall to the Titans, and he said last week that he’d “love to” go to Tennessee.
The Browns have the second pick.
Browns General Manager Andrew Berry said Tuesday he is confident Deion Sanders would be comfortable with his son in Cleveland.
“I don’t anticipate that being a problem,” Berry said, via Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com.
Berry met with Shedeur Sanders at the East-West Shrine Bowl last week and, like the Titans did, he said that the Colorado quarterback made a great first impression.
“Shedeur is a really impressive young man,” Berry said. “He’s poised. He’s calm. He’s smart, and you can tell that he’s been raised by — quite honestly — a Hall of Fame dad. We’re going to get to know him even more over the course of the spring, but he’s really impressive.”
In two seasons in Boulder, Sanders completed 71.8 percent of his passes for 7,364 yards with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Browns General Manager Andre Berry said earlier this month that he’s expecting star defensive end Myles Garrett to retire with the franchise.
On Tuesday, Berry was even more unequivocal about the future of the 2023 AP defensive player of the year.
Speaking with a small group of Browns beat writers, Berry reiterated the franchise has no interest in trading Garrett. He was asked directly if a team were to offer two first-round picks for Garrett, “Do you say, ‘I’m not interested’?”
“Correct,” Berry said, via Kelsey Russo of the team’s website. “You can put that on the record.”
Instead, the Browns are much more likely to sign Garrett to a third contract. He currently has two years remaining on the five-year extension he signed with the club in July 2020.
“I think you can assume that we do anticipate at some point doing a third contract with Myles,” Berry said. “We want him to retire here.”
“We feel really good about Myles obviously as a big piece of our future,” Berry added. “We’re looking forward to him being on the field. Like I said in my [early January] press conference, we envision him going from Cleveland to Canton when his career is over.”
Already one of the best players in franchise history, the four-time All-Pro Garrett registered 14.0 sacks, 28 quarterback hits, and a league-leading 22 tackles for loss in the 2024 season. He became the first player in league history to record at least 14 sacks in four consecutive seasons.
The Browns have added a running back.
Cleveland announced on Tuesday that the team has signed Troy Hairston to a futures deal.
Hairston, 26, has appeared in 18 career games with five starts — all with Houston. He appeared in two games in 2024, playing 39 snaps — all on special teams.
He caught five passes for 19 yards for the Texans back in 2022, appearing in 16 games.
The Browns stayed inside the organization to find their new offensive coordinator and they will do the same to fill their quarterback coach opening.
According to multiple reports, the team will be moving Bill Musgrave into the spot left open after Ashton Grant left for the same job with the Patriots. Musgrave was a senior offensive assistant in Cleveland for the last two years.
Musgrave has extensive experience as both an offensive coordinator and a quarterbacks coach. He filled both roles at Cal before joining the Browns and has worked with eight other NFL teams since ending his time as a quarterback in the league.
Tommy Rees was promoted from tight ends coach to offensive coordinator and the Browns have yet to find a new coach to fill his former spot.
Browns offensive guard Joel Bitonio is headed to his seventh Pro Bowl, the team announced Monday.
He is Chiefs offensive guard Joe Thuney, who will play in the Super Bowl instead. Bitonio joins defensive end Myles Garrett, wide receiver Jerry Jeudy and cornerback Denzel Ward as representatives for the Browns.
Bitonio’s seven Pro Bowl selections rank fourth most in team history. He trails only Pro Football Hall of Famers Joe Thomas (10), Jim Brown (9) and Lou Groza (9). Only Thomas, Brown and Bitonio have made seven consecutive Pro Bowls for the Browns.
Bitonio started all 17 games this season at left guard.
He has appeared in 161 career regular-season games, 13th most all-time in team history, and his 161 career starts ranks second on the club since 1999.
The 2025 Pro Bowl Games will begin Thursday and run through Sunday.
After posting a full list of the most recent years in which the 16 NFC teams last made it to the conference championship, some have already asked to see the same thing for the other conference.
In the AFC, 15 teams have made it at some point. The Texans, who debuted in 2002, are the only ones who haven’t qualified. Which, coupled with the Cowboys’ 30-year drought, is a rough look for a state that bleeds football.
Here’s the full list of last AFC Championship appearances.
Bills: 2024.
Chiefs: 2024.
Ravens: 2023.
Bengals: 2022.
Titans: 2019.
Patriots: 2018.
Jaguars: 2017.
Steelers: 2016.
Broncos: 2015.
Colts: 2014.
Jets: 2010.
Chargers: 2007.
Raiders: 2002.
Dolphins: 1992.
Browns: 1989.
That’s 33 years for the Dolphins, and 36 for the Browns.
Now, the Browns who last made the AFC Championship are no longer the Browns. They’re the Ravens. But when the deal that allowed the Browns to move to Baltimore included leaving all records behind, the record of the most recent AFC Championship stays, too.
As to the reconstituted Browns, who returned to the NFL in 1999, they have yet to make it to the AFC Championship.
Mike Vrabel is not retaining quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney, Mark Daniels of masslive.com reports.
McCartney, 35, leaves with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, whom he followed to New England from Cleveland last year.
Vrabel hired Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator and Ashton Grant as quarterbacks coach.
McCartney and Van Pelt are among several assistants leaving New England. Daniels reports that offensive line coach Scott Peters, receivers coach Tyler Hughes, tight ends coach Bob Bickell, running backs coach Taylor Embree, assistant receivers coach Tiquan Underwood and offensive assistant Michael McCarthy are among others let go.
McCartney worked with first-round rookie Drake Maye in 2024, with Jacoby Brissett and Joe Milton III also starting games. Maye threw for 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
McCartney has coached in the NFL since 2017, spending four seasons in Cleveland. He was an offensive assistant in 2020-21 and the tight ends coach in 2022-23.
The Patriots are hiring Ashton Grant as their quarterbacks coach, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports.
Grant also interviewed for the Packers’ quarterbacks job this offseason.
He joined the Browns in 2020 as the team’s Bill Willis Coaching Fellowship recipient and extended his time in the same through through 2021. The Browns created the opportunity for a rising minority coach with a focus on the offensive side of the ball.
In 2022, Grant earned a promotion to an offensive quality control coach.
The past two seasons Grant has served as the offensive assistant/quarterbacks.
He now will get a chance to learn under Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels in New England.
The Browns have begun their interview process for a quarterbacks coach.
Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Cleveland interviewed Giants assistant QBs coach Christian Jones for the position on Thursday.
Jones just completed his second season in that role with New York after serving as an offensive assistant in 2022. He was previously with the Vikings for three seasons as an offensive quality control coach and then assistant receivers coach.
Jones played his college ball at Northwestern from 2011-2015 where he was a receiver.
New Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said in his introductory press conference on Thursday that he’ll be involved with the quarterbacks but it was still to be determined if the club would hire a full-time QBs coach.
“That’s something as a staff we have to evaluate on exactly how we want to play that out,” Rees said. “[W]e’re going to weigh all those options and make sure it’s the right fit for us.”
The Browns previously had Alex Van Pelt as their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2023 before bringing Ken Dorsey as OC in 2024.
One of Cleveland’s defensive coaches is off to the college ranks.
Per Pete Thamel of ESPN, Browns assistant defensive line coach Jordan Thomas is departing the organization to become Boston College’s new defensive line coach.
Thomas had been with Cleveland since 2022 in the same role.
Thamel reports new Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel recommended Thomas to Boston College head coach Bill O’Brien. Vrabel, who worked under O’Brien with the Texans, was with Cleveland as a consultant in 2024.
