Imagine the Cleveland Browns‘ season as the latest edition of a high-stakes drama series—let’s call it “Gridiron Gambles.” The plot thickens as star QB Deshaun Watson, after a rollercoaster tenure marked by off-field controversies and on-field injuries, faces yet another setback. A re-ruptured Achilles tendon that threatens his entire 2025 season. Meanwhile, the front office is now in desperate need of a QB. Rookie Cam Ward? Maybe. Someone else? Who knows.
Amidst this turmoil, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) released its annual report card, revealing some predictable outcomes and some unexpected twists. What makes this more exciting is that over 1,600 players provided information to share with one another about their teams. From the training room and staff to the head coach and ownership, everyone earned a grade from the players. But first, let’s talk about the Browns’ head coach, Kevin Stefanski.
The NFLPA revealed that Stefanski has earned a lukewarm “C” grade from the players. Let’s just say it’s brutal. Because the grading isn’t just limited to on-field performance but off-field relations as well. For starters, after a promising 11-6 season in 2023, the team’s performance declined faster than Ross Geller’s marriages. The result? A chaotic 3-14 in 2024.
Besides, 67% of the Browns players felt that Stefanski is efficient with their time, which ranked him 29th out of 32. WOW! Whether it’s disorganized training sessions or unnecessary meetings, we’ve no idea. But one thing’s clear: the players didn’t want their time to be misused, but the head coach had other plans.
Additionally, the players feel that the head coach is moderately receptive to locker room feedback on the team’s needs, which ranked him 30th out of 32 head coaches in the league. It would be exciting to learn who are the other two coaches who did a job worse than Stefanski—according to the players, of course.
If Stefanski is almost at the bottom of the list, then it’s pretty clear that Browns’ players feel like their voices don’t really matter. Sure, they might have addressed the issues, but who knows if the issues were resolved. Long story short: Deshaun Watson and Co. believes that Kevin Stefanski doesn’t value their time, and he doesn’t listen to them enough. Period!
Let bygones be bygones: What’s next for Deshaun Watson’s Browns in 2o25?
Let’s take a trip down memory lane to the week 7 matchup between the Browns and the Bengals. A tragic game for the QB and shocking for the Browns’ fans. Watson was carted off the field after suffering a non-contact leg injury—that was later confirmed to be an Achilles tear. The injury forced Watson to miss out on the rest of the 2024 season. Fast forward to January 2025 and the 29-year-old QB underwent surgery after he suffered a re-rupture to his right Achilles tendon. The result? A wrap-up of the 2025 season before it even began.
Now, the team’s looking for a new QB to lead the team in 2025. The Browns have the number 2 overall pick option in the 2025 NFL draft. That means the Cleveland team has a solid option to draft Cam Ward of Miami or Shedeur Sanders of Colorado. Now that Ward has a pretty much chance of getting drafted as the number 1 overall pick, the team may land Sanders as their new QB. The kicker?
Shedeur Sanders was spotted walking around the NFL Combine wearing Browns, Vikings, and Saints hats hanging on his backpack.
Sanders is keeping all his options open pic.twitter.com/JBqsP8sYEg
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 27, 2025
Looks like Sanders is keeping all his options open right about now. You see, on Thursday, the QB was spotted walking around the NFL Combine wearing Browns, Vikings, and Saints hats hanging on his backpack. That’s some juicy stuff. But let’s be real—the Saints’ general manager Mickey Loomis earlier expressed interest in Derek Carr to remain as the team’s QB1. Additionally, they have the no. 9 overall pick option in the draft, so it’s unlikely they’ll be able to draft Sanders.
As for the Vikings…well, they first need to finalize a contract for Sam Darnold if they’re still interested in him. Besides, JJ McCarthy is yet to make his NFL debut. If we connect the dots, the Browns have the higher odds to draft Sanders in 2025. But at the end of the day, we can just wait for April to get a confirmation. Until then, keep scrolling X and ES for more such NFL rumors!
The post Deshaun Watson & Locker Room Throws Kevin Stefanski Under the Bus in NFLPA Survey as Shedeur Sanders Drops Browns Hint appeared first on EssentiallySports.
