Cleveland Browns
Nyheim Hines would like another shot.
Via ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Hines is looking to find a team for training camp this summer — nearly two years after suffering a torn ACL during a jet ski accident.
Hines, 28, was an effective dual-threat running back for the Colts for several years before he was traded to the Bills midway through the 2022 season. He memorably returned two kicks for touchdowns in Buffalo’s Week 18 victory over New England — a week after Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest on the field against Cincinnati.
But Hines missed all of the 2023 season due to his torn ACL and signed with the Browns in March of last year. While Cleveland started Hines’ 21-day practice window, the club elected not to activate him off of the physically unable to perform list.
Cleveland then released Hines in February.
According to Schefter, Hines now feels his knee is finally ready for a return to action.
Hines has 1,832 return yards and four touchdowns in his career. He’s also recorded 1,205 rushing yards, 1,725 receiving yards, and 18 touchdowns from scrimmage since the Colts made him a fourth-round pick in 2018.
Joel Bitonio will be back for a 12th season with the Browns, but the left guard’s return for the 2025 campaign wasn’t a sure thing.
Bitonio took some time after the 2024 season to confirm that he’d be back in Cleveland and told Barry Shuck of Dawgs By Nature that he never doubted his ability to continue playing at a high level, but that “it was truly a decision” because of the way things played out last year. The Browns were 3-14 and went into the offseason with questions about quarterback and other spots on the roster that made it hard for Bitonio to immediately commit to returning.
The bad taste that the 2024 season left in Bitonio’s mouth along with the arrival of offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren turned out to be leading reasons why he decided to keep playing.
“It was tough. I did give consideration to retiring,” Bitonio said. “I was frustrated. Now, I don’t know if I would have the same conversation if we had gone to the playoffs again, and maybe were a 10-win team. But after having a successful year, followed by losing 14 was difficult. I questioned why I was playing this game. What am I doing here? The fact that we had a terrible season was not what I was expecting. I sat back and waited for a little bit. I talked to [head coach Kevin] Stefanski, then they brought in Bloomgren and advanced [offensive coordinator] Tommy Rees. He said they were going to draft a quarterback and make all these moves. I wanted to go out on a higher note than what we experienced last year.”
It remains to be seen if the Browns’ moves at quarterback will push the team back up the standings, but having Bitonio as part of the protection plan should help their bid for better results this time around.
The non-stop NFL news firehose often makes it easy to forget that the latest spray consists of recycled water.
A recent post on the CFL’s official website has stirred up an outdated news nugget: The Toronto Argonauts have the negotiating rights to Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Yes, they do. The same as they did in late April, after Sanders fell to pick No. 144 in the draft.
None of it matters unless and until Sanders washes out of the NFL and decides to roll the dice north of the border. Chad Kelly has done it. Doug Flutie did it. Warren Moon and Joe Thesimann used CFL success as a springboard to NFL stardom.
If Sanders is ever playing for the Argonauts, it will mean that things will have gone very poorly for him in Cleveland, and possibly elsewhere.
Regardless, the news currently making the rounds isn’t new. The Argonauts still have Shedeur’s negotiating rights. And Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.
We’ve recently taken a look at the coaches on the hot seat for 2025. This week, a reader asked the same question as it relates to quarterbacks.
Plenty of them are feeling the heat, or should be, this season. Let’s take a look at each spot, based on the loose arrangement of the conferences and divisions that has been tattooed onto my brain.
Justin Fields, Jets: His contract has $10 million in guarantees that spill into 2026. That’s not enough to guarantee him two years as the starter. He needs to do enough in 2025 to earn 2026 — and beyond.
Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins: His contract guarantees his pay through 2026. If the Dolphins fall flat and change coaches, the next coach likely will want a fresh start at quarterback. While the cap charges will complicate a split before 2027, every high-end quarterback contract eventually leads to a big cap charge when the relationship ends. The next coach (and the next G.M., if owner Stephen Ross cleans house) may want to rip the Band-Aid off in one motion.
Aaron Rodgers, Steelers: He says he’s pretty sure this is his last year. If he doesn’t play well enough for the Steelers in 2025 and if he wants to keep playing in 2026, the Steelers may give him the same cold shoulder that Russell Wilson got after 2024.
All Browns quarterbacks: With Jacksonville’s first-round pick in their back pocket, the Browns could be in position to get a future franchise quarterback in next year’s draft. That raises the stakes for every quarterback currently on the Cleveland roster. Because there’s a chance none of them will be the starter in 2026.
Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson, Colts: It already feels like Jones will be the Week 1 starter. He’ll then have a chance to lock the revolving door the Colts have had since Andrew Luck retired. If he doesn’t, the Colts will be looking elsewhere in 2026. As to Richardson, his best play is to play better than he ever has, if and when he gets the chance.
Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars: Every new coach wants his own quarterback, except when the coach inherits a true franchise quarterback. But Tony Dungy landing with Peyton Manning doesn’t happen very often. And it’s not clear whether Lawrence is a short-list franchise quarterback. He was on track to be one as of 2022. The past two years haven’t been good enough, long-term contract notwithstanding. What do coach Liam Coen and G.M. James Gladstone want? If Lawrence doesn’t play better in 2025 than he did in 2024, Lawrence and everyone else may find out in 2026.
Geno Smith, Raiders: He’s being mentioned simply to say he’s not on the hot seat. He has $18.5 million in guarantees for 2026, and his close ties to Pete Carroll will keep Smith around for at least two years. (Unless, of course, a certain minority owner decides otherwise.)
Dak Prescott, Cowboys: He’s probably not on the hot seat, because his $60 million per year contract would wreak havoc on the salary cap if the Cowboys were to cut or trade him (yes, he has a no-trade clause, but he can waive it) in 2026. The complication for the Cowboys is that his $45 million salary for 2027 becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2026 league year. They’re basically stuck — all because they waited too long to give him his second contract, and then waited too long to give him his third contract.
Russell Wilson, Giants: If he’s the Week 1 starter (if Jaxson Dart lives up to his first-round draft stock, Wilson shouldn’t be), the clock will be ticking. Immediately. In 2004, the Giants benched Kurt Warner after nine games for Eli Manning, even though the Giants were 5-4 at the time. When Dart is ready, Dart will play. Even if Wilson makes it through 2025 without getting benched, he’ll have to do plenty to keep Dart on the sideline for 2026.
Jordan Love, Packers: He’s not on the hot seat per se, but he needs to play better in 2025 than he did in 2024. If not, he will be on the hot seat in 2026. The wild card in Green Bay is new CEO Ed Policy, who operates as the de facto owner of the team.
J.J. McCarthy, Vikings: He’s getting his shot to play, after a knee injury wiped out his rookie season. Anything other than an outright disaster will ensure his status for 2026. At worst, he’d have to compete with a more established veteran next year.
Tyler Shough, Saints: He’ll need to do enough in 2025 to earn the chance to do well enough in 2026 to get the Saints to not pursue the grandson of Archie Manning in 2027. (And, yes, I think Arch Manning will spend two years as a college starter before entering the draft.)
Bryce Young, Panthers: In year three, he needs to continue the growth he showed late in the 2024 season, in order to secure a fourth season, the fifth-year option, and ideally (for him) a second contract.
Kyler Murray, Cardinals: His contract gives him two more years of financial security. But this is the team that drafted Murray a year after using the 10th overall pick on Josh Rosen (not Lamar Jackson). So who knows what the Cardinals will do if Murray doesn’t propel the team into contention this year?
Sam Darnold, Seahawks: He has a one-year deal, as a practical matter. And the Seahawks seem to really like rookie Jalen Milroe. Darnold will need to play very well to secure his status for 2026.
Matthew Stafford, Rams: It’s not the “hot seat” as much as it’s a mutual understanding that player and team are taking things one year at a time. After the season, both sides will have to recommit. Whether the Rams will want to do that depends on how Stafford plays in 2025, and on their other options for staffing the position in 2026.
That’s a lot of names. But it’s no surprise. There aren’t many true, unquestioned, year-after-year franchise quarterbacks. And the teams that don’t have one are always hoping to find one.
It has created more quarterback movement in recent years than ever before. Plenty of the names listed above will be on the move in 2026.
The Steelers and linebacker T.J. Watt continue to be at odds regarding his next contract. And the Steelers don’t seem to be very stressed out about it.
Even if, as we’ve heard, the current gap between the Steelers and Watt is significant, the gap necessarily will narrow when the final stages of the negotiations begin.
The last time around, those negotiations lasted deep into training camp and the preseason, with Watt holding in and not practicing until the deal was done. It worked, with Watt then getting a record $28 million per year in new-money average.
This time, the Steelers seem to believe (based on our discussions with those familiar with the team’s approach) that, when their best number is put on the table, Watt will take it.
Our guess (and it’s just a guess) is that the Steelers hope to stay closer to the Maxx Crosby range of $35.5 million, with Watt hoping to surge past Myle Garrett’s $40 million per year.
What if, at the end of the day, the Steelers offer a deal worth $38 million per year? Once that offer is extended (if it is), would Watt give up, essentially, $2.1 million per week (based on 18 checks per season) and hold out into the regular season?
Of course, the Steelers could be underestimating Watt’s resolve. If he’s dug in when it comes to matching or beating Garrett, maybe Watt would still say “no” to anything less than $40 million per year.
And if the Steelers hope to regard the Garrett contract as another Cleveland albatross contract akin to the Deshaun Watson deal, there’s another wrinkle to consider. The Micah Parsons contract will undoubtedly match (or likely exceed, perhaps significantly) the Garrett deal.
At this point, shouldn’t Watt wait to see what Parsons gets? The Parsons package will only drive the current market higher, making Watt’s case for more than Pittsburgh’s best offer even stronger.
However the Parsons negotiations play out, the Watt situation is fairly simple. He’ll either accept the Steelers’ best offer, or he won’t. And if the Steelers believe it will be good enough to pay him extremely well but not as much or more than other top defenders, they’ll find out whether he’ll take it.
Watt has considerable leverage. The Steelers going all in this year. They’re 1-11 when he misses games due to injury. Not having Watt would offset everything else they’ve done in an effort to win enough regular-season games to get to the playoffs — and to win a postseason game for the first time in Watt’s career.
The Cleveland Browns got what they wanted from Ohio, in the form of $600 million in taxpayer money and a change to the law that would have otherwise kept them from leaving downtown Cleveland for suburban Brook Park.
And while the Browns are very happy about the outcome, Cleveland is not.
“We are deeply disappointed that the final state budget includes both a $600 million public subsidy for a domed stadium in Brook Park and changes to Ohio’s [Art] Modell Law — provisions we strongly opposed and requested be removed,” Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said Tuesday, via WKYC.com. “Relocating the Browns will divert economic activity from downtown, create a competing entertainment district, and disrupt the momentum of our lakefront redevelopment.”
The change to the Art Modell Law allows Ohio teams to move within Ohio. Given that the Ohio legislature created the initial law after the Browns moved to Baltimore in 1996, it seems that there’s little room for Cleveland to fight the legislature’s decision to change the law.
The planned use of unclaimed funds to pay the $600 million to the Browns may become a bigger impediment to the plan. A 2009 decision of the Ohio Supreme Court could provide the basis of a challenge to the plan to tap into the money for the purposes of funding the new stadium.
Put simply, “unclaimed funds” are not abandoned. They remain the property of those who have not claimed them. The argument would be that those funds cannot be redistributed by the state for the purposes of building a new football stadium.
And so, even as the Browns declare victory and rush forward to make plans for selling season tickets to their new stadium, there’s a chance that Ohio will have to scrap the plan to pay the $600 million via unclaimed funds and come up with an alternative approach.
The one approach that will never happen is to put the issue to the voters. When the voters have a chance to say whether their money will be used to subsidize the multibillionaire owners of sports teams, the response is usually, “Hell no.”
As it arguably should be. With the values of NFL teams skyrocketing, why shouldn’t NFL teams pay for their own stadiums? The habit of using public funds for such projects feels less like good governance and more like the misadventures of Dennis Moore.
The Browns may not get their way very often on the field. They’ve gotten their way off the field. As it relates to getting a new field.
Via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed a new budget into law late Monday night. The big, beautiful, Buckeye bill gives the Browns $600 million in state money for a new stadium — and it clears the path to move from Cleveland to Brook Park without violating the Art Modell Law.
The $600 million comes from the state’s unclaimed property fund. Ruiter notes that a class-action lawsuit was filed last week, arguing that unclaimed funds can’t be used for public projects.
The Modell Law, which as written limits the ability of the Browns to move “elsewhere,” was changed to prohibit moves outside the state.
Which will make things hilarious in about 10 years, when the Bengals try to move to Columbus. (I’m kidding, Cincinnati. But it definitely would be hilarious.)
The Browns still need to come up with more money to get this done, since Cuyahoga County has no interest in participating. With the stadium expected to cost $2.4 billion (it’s always more than the estimate), the Browns have managed to get 25 percent of the money from taxpayer funds. Most NFL stadium projects aimed for a 50-50 split.
Regardless, it’s full Cleveland steam ahead. The team bought 176 acres last week, for $76 million.
Hopefully they’ll get a better return on that than they have on the $230 million that will go to Deshaun Watson.
Deshaun Watson watched the Browns’ four-way quarterback battle while doing his rehab work this offseason. It is still too soon to know when he will return after tearing his Achilles a second time and undergoing another surgery Jan. 10.
Watson will miss most, if not all, of 2025, leaving the job to Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders.
Watson, though, has been involved inside the quarterbacks room, especially with mentoring Gabriel and Sanders, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports.
“He’s been a guy I’ve connected with as well, and he’s actually a guy I sit by in our O-line meetings, even in our offensive unit meetings,” Gabriel said during minicamp, via Cabot. “So just being able to be around him and nudge him and ask a question, whether it’s for confirmation or his thought, but also when we’re talking through concepts, I think it’s super cool that we do have five guys in the room that kind of can speak to their own experience and even Deshaun this morning, talking through a concept and kind of how he sees it in the red area. It can change the play in a big way, just how you think of it. So appreciate him a bunch, too. Just sharing all his knowledge.”
Watson has been throwing to Browns receivers, including Jerry Jeudy and David Bell, since last month without a walking boot, per Cabot. But his biggest contribution has been as a cheerleader and a sounding board for the other four quarterbacks.
Factory of Sadness 2 is moving closer and closer to reality.
With the Ohio legislature amending the Art Modell Law in a way that allows the Browns to move from Cleveland, the Browns have acquired a 176-acre parcel in Brook Park.
Via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, the Browns and Haslam Sports Group closed on the sale on Friday, at a price in excess of $76 million.
Governor Mike DeWine is expected to sign the relevant provisions into law next week. The Browns hope to break ground in early 2026, with a goal of opening the new domed stadium in 2029.
The Browns will be sacrificing the home-field advantage that comes from playing in the elements. They’ll be the first team in the AFC North to move indoors. Once that happens, only the AFC East will consist of four open-air, in-the-elements stadiums.
The collusion grievance, which found that the NFL/Management Council encouraged teams to violate the CBA, flowed from an effort to limit the spread of fully-guaranteed contracts. And there’s an ongoing effort to limit the spread of fully-guaranteed contracts.
The vast majority of all 2025 draft picks have signed their four-year rookie deals. In round two, 30 of the selections have yet to sign.
The problem is that, for the first time ever, a second-round pick has gotten a fully-guaranteed contract. It started with Texans receiver Jayden Higgins, the second pick in round two. That sparked a fully-guaranteed contract for Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger, the first pick in the second round.
For the next 30 picks, nothing has happened. Obviously, the players and their agents want as many of the deals as possible to be fully guaranteed. The teams want to draw the line as close to the third pick in round two (Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori) as possible.
There’s no colluding to be done, since the common goal of limited guaranteed deals is obvious. Still, it’s the current battleground when it comes to whether the full four years of a contract will be guaranteed.
None of the players will take something less than a fully-guaranteed deal below Emmanwori, because they don’t want to be responsible for ending the run of fully-guaranteed deals. And every team will want to be the one that successfully held the rope and won the full-guarantee tug-o-war.
Eventually, someone will have to blink. It’ll probably start later in the round, with players who wouldn’t expect to get a full guarantee anyway. And then it could work its way up the ladder.
At some point, a player is going to insist on a fully-guaranteed deal and the team is going to insist on not fully guaranteeing the deal and there will be no middle ground.
In a roundabout way, the mere existence of this problem proves that collusion, if it’s happening, is far from universal. The Texans created the predicament by becoming the first team to give a fully-guaranteed contract to a second-round pick. If all 32 teams were in cahoots on a plan to limit fully-guaranteed contracts, the Texans never would have done that.
However it plays out from here, one thing is clear. There won’t be any emails or other written communications encouraging the teams to resist giving players fully-guaranteed deals. Documents like that nearly created a major problem for the NFL.
It would still be a major problem, if the NFLPA had any inclination to capitalize on the leverage they’ve secured.