The NFLPA’s annual report cards were released on Wednesday and Kevin Stefanski did not receive a good grade for his work as Browns head coach.
Stefanski was one of three coaches to receive a C in the category. That’s down from his B- grade in 2024.
The other two coaches to receive a C in 2024 — Jacksonville’s Doug Pederson and Chicago’s Matt Eberflus — were both fired.
The NFLPA reported 67 percent of Browns players said Stefanski is efficient with their time, which ranked No. 29 of 32. Stefanski was also rated as moderately receptive to locker room feedback on the team’s needs, which placed him at No. 30 of 32 head coaches.
“We look at things every year,” Stefanski said when asked about his grade and what changes he might make. “I ask the players to get better year-to-year, I certainly hope we’re getting better year-to-year. What we do in the offseason is [go] in search of best practices, if you will. So you’re always open to doing things that are better for the football team.”
Stefanski is the Browns’ longest-tenured head coach since the club returned to the league in 1999. He’s the only Cleveland coach to last five seasons in the role, let alone six — as he’s entering now. A two-time AP coach of the year, he’s accumulated a 40-44 regular-season record with a 1-2 postseason record in five seasons.
Earlier this month, 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel made his trade request public.
While General Manager John Lynch said after the end of the season in January that the club wasn’t in the business of letting good players go, he changed his tune during his press conference at this year’s scouting combine.
“You know, still not interested,” Lynch began when asked about Samuel. “But along those lines of the financial constraints, and some conversations we’ve had with Deebo — it’s something that we’ve been forthright with that. We’re on good terms with Deebo. He’s asked for a fresh start and I think we’re going to honor that.
“Don’t like seeing great players — and he is a great player, I think often one of my favorite draft picks in my time. He makes plays. He makes game-changing plays. Everything’s good. But at some point, time happens and he asked for that, we don’t always — there’s contracts and things. But it probably makes sense, so we’re at least allowing him to look. And we’re having conversations, we’ll see how it goes.”
The 49ers have had discussions about trading Samuel in the past, but nothing came to fruition with them.
While Lynch understands the origins of Samuel’s trade request this offseason, he elected to keep that information in-house.
“Those are personal conversations. And like I said, everybody’s on good terms,” Lynch said. “Hopefully, we find a great place and then we’ll have to make a decision if we don’t. But there’s been a lot of interest around the league.”
To that end, there was recent reporting that teams were waiting to see if Samuel would be cut if no trade is worked out. That’s a possibility, but Lynch isn’t closing the door on Samuel potentially returning to the team.
“There’s always a scenario — I’ve learned that as well,” Lynch said.
Still, Lynch is finding it challenging to let a player like Samuel go.
“There’s a lot of love there. There’s a lot of respect there. There’s a lot of shared experiences,” Lynch said. “So, to let that go, that’s difficult. But like I said, time happens and if it makes sense for both sides, you at least give it a chance. And so that’s where [we’re] at.”
After Browns General Manager Andrew Berry said on Tuesday that the team’s stance on Myles Garrett’s trade request hasn’t changed, Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski made similar comments during his Wednesday press conference.
Speaking at this year’s scouting combine, Stefanski said he’s going to keep his conversations with Garrett in-house. But he doesn’t foresee Garrett playing elsewhere in 2025 and it’s not affecting his plans for the offseason.
“As you know, I think the world of Myles,” Stefanski said. “I understand the business of football and I understand these things happen from time to time. But I expect Myles on our team this year, next year, the year after that, and so on.
“He’s a part of the present, he’s a part of the future.”
As for Garrett noting that his trade request is about going to a team that can win a Super Bowl, Stefanski said Garrett isn’t alone in his ultimate goal.
“I also want to win,” Stefanski said. “I also want to win a championship. That’s just how we’re wired. We’re working very hard toward that goal.”
Garrett has solidified himself as one of the best players in franchise history with 102.5 sacks over his first eight seasons. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2017 draft, Garrett has registered double-digit sacks every year since 2018.
But the Browns still have some work to do if they’d like to keep him happy in the fold.
The Jaguars hired Liam Coen as head coach with the idea that he’ll be able to build around quarterback Trevor Lawrence and lead the team to success.
Lawrence has already received a second contract from Jacksonville, making him one of the league’s highest-paid players. With the quarterback heading into his fifth pro season, Coen said this week that he wants Lawrence’s input for roster decisions.
“He is our guy,” Coen said during his press conference. “He’s the franchise, and as much as we can involve him in the process without maybe putting too much on his plate, he’s a new father, now a husband, he’s just getting into it. But he’s hungry. He’s hungry. He wants to be playing at the highest level possible, and how do we include him in some of those conversations, specifically with some of the skill players and obviously on the offensive line?
“So, he will definitely be involved in some of that while just being mindful of not putting too much on him, because he’s going to be learning a completely new system and having to go through a new transition again.”
But Coen would also like to create a sense of stability for Lawrence, since that’s not something he’s had throughout his career.
“It’s important, but he’s going to learn so much from his different experiences, right? For good and for bad,” Coen said. “He can take those experiences to really dive into this new process. But I think what’s critical is how do we get him to that standard and that structure and that schedule throughout his process once he gets here? So now, we truly focus on him. Not as much, where he’s been, what he’s had. He can take and log those experiences, but now, how do we create a little bit of sameness? Give him a schedule, hey, Mondays, this is what we want. Look for your daily rhythm. Tuesdays within the season with third downs. As we start to move towards the red zone, how do we connect with him to have a schedule? I think that’s the consistency that we’re going to try to create for him.”
In 10 games last season, Lawrence completed 60.6 percent of his passes for 2,045 yards with 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The reason for edge rusher Mike Green’s dismissal from Virginia had not been made public. Green, who played the past two seasons at Marshall, revealed Wednesday he was the subject of two allegations of sexual assault, including one at Virginia, and both of which he denies.
Green said, via TheAthletic.com, that he has “done nothing wrong.”
“There’s accusations out there. I’ve never been questioned,” Green said. “I’ve never been asked. Nobody ever asked me a question about what happened before I departed from Virginia. It was just accusations that caused me to leave.”
Green led the country in sacks last season with 17 and is projected as a first-round draft pick.
Green said he is open about the accusations, because he has nothing to hide and did nothing wrong. He clarified that one allegation against him came in high school and another in an anonymous report at Virginia, which prompted the school to suspend him.
He said he will answer all questions from teams about the allegations.
“I’m not worried at all. . . . I have no concerns, and I have no problem with talking to these teams about it because I know who I am and I know the truth,” Green said. “Everybody else that thinks they know the truth. That’s not my concern right now.”
Edge rusher Mykel Williams is on the list of the top draft prospects who won’t be working out during this week’s Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
Williams was a guest on PFT Live on Wednesday morning and he said that he will hold off on on-field work until Georgia’s pro day.
“I plan on doing most stuff at my pro day,” Williams said. I got kind of a late jump on my training, so that’s why I’m pushing it back to my pro day.”
The extra time will help Williams ensure that he’s fully healthy when it comes time to show off for scouts. Williams said at a press conference in Indianapolis that he played at 60 percent during the 2024 season after suffering an ankle injury in the opening game. Williams said his decision to play through the injury has been a frequent topic of conversation with teams.
“I have a different type of grit about myself that I can push through pain,” Williams said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. “No matter how I’m feeling, I can still get it done. The teams are loving that I did. They said most guys, in the position I was in, would have sat down.”
Williams had 21 tackles, nine tackles for loss, five sacks, and two forced fumbles during his final year with the Bulldogs.
Colts General Manager Chris Ballard said during his Tuesday press conference at the scouting combine that Indianapolis will have an open competition at starting quarterback for the coming season.
The idea is to push 2023 No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson toward improvement, and head coach Shane Steichen said in his own Tuesday presser that he thinks it will be good for the young QB.
“I think competition is great for everybody,” Steichen said. “Any time you have competition at any position, whether it’s the quarterback position or wherever it may be, I think it makes everyone better.”
Richardson, who turns 23 in May, has dealt with multiple injuries. But he’s also been wildly inconsistent when he’s been on the field. He ended the 2024 season with a 47.7 completion rate, passing for 1,814 yards with eight touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 11 starts.
So, it’s no surprise Steichen mentioned consistency and completion percentage as aspects Richardson can improve for 2025.
How can the completion rate improve?
“I think it’s repetition,” Steichen said, noting Richardson’s quick feet. “I think it’s just getting the repetitions with those guys to get the completion percentage up.”
While Steichen noted the importance of every year in the NFL, there’s no denying that Richardson’s Year 3 is going to be critical as his career moves forward.
“You have to show up and play,” Steichen said. “Every year there are pressure situations and you have to show up week in and week out and put on your best performance.”
Texas A&M edge rusher Shemar Stewart has been fastest rising draft prospect after a standout performance at the Senior Bowl. Stewart dominated in the Senior Bowl workouts, showing game-changing ability.
“I felt like the Senior Bowl gave me an opportunity to show people my ability,” Stewart said, “because they had just seen me on tape and were like, ‘Oh, he’s just big; he’s not fast.’ I went in there and answered everybody’s questions. I showed people why I should be a first-round pick.”
Stewart, who is 6 foot 5 and 281 pounds, is projected in the top half of the first round now, and he expects to solidify that with his workout numbers at the Scouting Combine.
“I got something in the bag for y’all,” Stewart said.
His production at A&M, though, didn’t meet expectations.
Stewart was not even a full-time starter until this past season, and he made only 1.5 sacks, seven quarterback hurries and 5.5 tackles for loss in 2024. He finished his three years with 65 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.
“I wasn’t a sack-chasing warrior,” Stewart said. “I just wanted to become the best player for my team. Sometimes the stats don’t show that.”
Still, Stewart concedes he can become better at getting the quarterback to the ground.
“I’m definitely trying to get more composed when I get to the quarterback, trying to run through the tackle rather than trying to reach out and maybe lunge for the tackle,” Stewart said.
Somebody will roll the dice on Stewart in the first round, and he plans to reward them.
Word emerged in January that Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson could miss all of the 2025 season after re-tearing his Achilles.
At that point, it was unclear how Watson was injured for the second time after first tearing his Achilles in October. But on Tuesday, General Manager Andrew Berry clarified that Watson wasn’t doing anything outside of the ordinary before complaining of more Achilles discomfort.
“Yeah, so obviously Deshaun, he reinjured his Achilles. Unfortunately, he turned his foot [or] ankle that caused the re-tear during the normal stages of the recovery process,” Berry said. “I know there’s been a lot of speculation and everything out there, but there’s nothing nefarious. It’s just an unfortunate accident.
“So, our focus is on making sure that he gets healthy and can be back to normal.”
Berry added that it’s still a little too early to give a firm timetable for Watson’s recovery.
“He will miss significant time,” Berry said. “How far that spans into 2025? I can’t give you a specific [answer] right now. He’s shown to be a fast healer and we’re going to try and be as thoughtful and aggressive with the recovery process, but that’s not something that I could predict at currently.”
Whenever Watson recovers, it doesn’t seem likely that he’s going to automatically slide back into his role as Browns starting quarterback. Watson has performed poorly since arriving in Cleveland, but particularly struggled mightily in 2024. He completed 63.4 percent of his passes for 1,148 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions in seven games, also rushing for 148 yards with a TD.
While the Browns could use their No. 2 overall pick on a quarterback, they also seem likely to add a veteran via trade or free agency.
The Titans have the No. 1 overall pick. They might take a quarterback. They might not.
Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter thinks the Titans should take the best player in the draft, and he said he thinks that’s him.
“I feel like it’s very realistic,” Carter said. “I feel like I’m the best player in the country and the best player should be drafted No. 1.”
Georgia defensive lineman Travon Walker was the last non-quarterback to go No. 1 overall when the Jaguars picked him in 2022.
“It’s very important for me,” Carter said. “That’s one of the goals I made before the season. It’s something I’ve always talked about. It’s what I’ve worked for. I feel like I’m getting close to that. I’ve just got to keep working, keep putting the effort in and I’m going to accomplish my dream.”
Carter will not work out at the Scouting Combine, participating only in the medical exams and interviews this week. He injured his shoulder at the Fiesta Bowl, and he said Tuesday it was 90 percent healed. Carter will work out at his Pro Day.
“This next month is really where I start getting close to 100,” Carter said.
Carter said he will attend the draft in Green Bay.
“It’s really just me living up my dreams, being able to walk on that stage. I can’t wait,” Carter said.
