The Cleveland Browns, fresh off finishing the 2023 season with the NFL’s premier defense, have many of the pieces in place to challenge the Baltimore Ravens for AFC North supremacy in 2024.
Especially after Mike MacDonald’s departure as Ravens defensive coordinator to become the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, and Baltimore losing significant defensive talent via free agency defections, the door could be open for the Browns.
However, at least one prominent NFL analyst suggests that one of the Browns’ biggest offseason losses could prove to be the franchise’s biggest hurdle to challenging for the division crown and winning a playoff game — or more.
Will Departed Coach Sink Cleveland Browns’ Postseason Aspirations?
Much of the Browns’ climb back into relevancy in the AFC North, and more than that, hinges on quarterback Deshaun Watson returning to the field and returning to form fully healthy.
But, the Browns might have suffered a bigger loss that even a healthy Watson isn’t able to overcome. At least not in 2024.
Given the Browns’ ground-and-pound nature in the running game, and the importance of keeping Watson upright, letting Bill Callahan walk, to take a job on his son Brian Callahan’s staff with the Tennessee Titans, may be the Browns’ biggest loss of this offseason.
Just ask ESPN’s Bill Barnwell.
“Callahan has a well-earned reputation as one of the best positional coaches in any role across the league,” Barndwell writes. “He has helped unheralded or inconsistent linemen such as Wyatt Teller and Ethan Pocic play their best football after arriving in Cleveland, and he might have been most valuable to the organization in 2023.
“Consider that the Browns lost starting right tackle Jack Conklin to a serious knee injury in Week 1, ending the former All-Pro’s season as it began. The team promoted rookie fourth-rounder Dawand Jones to the right tackle role, and Jones looked like a seasoned pro before going down with his own season-ending knee injury in December. By the end of the season, the Browns were starting second-stringer Geron Christian at left tackle and third-stringer James Hudson at right tackle in front of 38-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco, who wasn’t exactly known for being fleet of foot even earlier in his career.”
How the Browns’ offensive line takes shape, after finishing behind only the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2023 campaign could play a starring role on Cleveland’s postseason chances in 2024.
