WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) — Owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam spent more than a decade in a futile, frustrating search for stability and success for the frequently bumbling Cleveland Browns.
And although their franchise is now thriving, they know it can all be fleeting.
“This is the NFL,” Jimmy Haslam said Saturday with a grin. “And if anybody understands how hard it is to win, it’s us.”
But these are heady times for both the Browns and the Haslams, who discussed the current state of the franchise during their annual media availability at the start of training camp.
With low clouds caressing the surrounding Appalachian Mountains, Cleveland’s first football family discussed a wide range of topics — including a sticky stadium situation — after the Browns’ third practice at The Greenbrier Resort, where they began a 2023 season that ended with a rare playoff appearance.
The Browns somehow survived a rash of major injuries and went 11-7 despite losing star running back Nick Chubb in Week 2, q uarterback Deshaun Watson for the stretch run and starting four other QBs.
It was only the second winning season since the Haslams bought the Browns in 2012 from Randy Lerner and last month they rewarded coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry with contract extensions, a major development for a team known for nearly constant upheaval.
Stefanski was voted AP Coach of the Year for the second time in four years, while the 37-year-old Berry made some astute moves, including signing free agent quarterback Joe Flacco, who came out of semi-retirement and led the Browns to the postseason.
“I guess we’d say it’s a relief that they performed well,” Jimmy Haslam said. “Dee said it well. Not only a good GM and a good coach, but they’re really good people. They’re very young. Often times we forget how young they are. Potentially a very high ceiling for both of them.”
The Haslams are working on an extension for chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta, who has been with the club since 2016.
As for Watson, he’s entering a critical, make-or-break third season with the club and the Haslams are hoping its a complete one after he played in just 12 games in his first two years because of an NFL suspension and shoulder fracture.
“Deshaun works really hard,” Dee Haslam said. “He’s well prepared. He worked really hard in the offseason. We obviously have really high expectations. He has really high expectations of himself.”
On Friday, Watson, who has thrown passes all three days of camp, said he’s focused on blocking out external noise and implied he has been unfairly judged. Watson was signed by the Browns amid sexual allegations brought against him by more than two dozen massage therapists in Texas.
Jimmy Haslam was asked if he was bothered by Watson’s tone or assertions.
“Look, Deshaun is trying really hard,” Jimmy Haslam said. “You’d think blocking out the noise is something really important to him. He was probably emotional when he said that. I mean, that’s something that I can see in the current situation saying that, but I think Deshaun is really focused this year and I think he’s much more comfortable and confident.”
Like several other franchises, the Browns are dealing with a multi-layered stadium issue. The team is considering leaving its downtown home since 1946 and building a dome in Brook Park, Ohio, a suburb 13 miles south of Cleveland.
The other option is a $1 billion renovation to their current stadium, which opened in 1999.
The team’s lease on the lakefront property owned by the city expires after the 2028 season, so time is a factor.
“I can assure you the intensity on all sides of coming up with a solution is extremely high,” Jimmy Haslam said.
The dome is expected to cost $2.4 billion and the Browns are hoping to fund it with state and county tax money.
“This is a big project,” Jimmy Haslam said. “No matter which direction we go, it’s complicated. Any time you have a public-private partnership, it’s not easy. We’re continuing to work through the process.
“We hope sooner rather than later we’ll have a solution. But I can assure you, we were on the phone for an hour this morning talking about various things that have to be solved and one solution or the other. We’ll continue to do so until we get to what we think is the right answer. The right answer is what is best for our fans. These are long, long-term decisions.”
NOTES: TE David Njoku practiced for the first time and caught a TD from Watson during red-zone drills. … C Brian Allen left practice with an apparent leg injury. He signed as a free agent in April after spending five seasons with the Rams.
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