NFL Exec Slams Browns' Tanking Culture

0:00On April 8th, the Cleveland Browns just caught strays from an NFL executive in a recent anonymous survey by Mike Sando at the Athletic. Talking about the New York Jets, the exec praised their defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn, and said they shouldn't tank like Cleveland, calling out the, Brown's so-called tanking culture that supposedly poisoned their whole franchise. Since 1999, the Browns have racked up 290 losses, the worst in the league by far. Things like the Raiders with 265, Lions at 260, Jaguars with 257, and Cardinals at 200. 54 are bad, but Cleveland sits alone at the bottom. Back in 2016, owner Jimmy Haslam embraced the tanking trend sweeping other sports, hoping to stockpile draft picks and rebuild smart. Fans got dragged along for years of pain, proving football is too unpredictable for that spreadsheet strategy to guarantee wins. From 2018 to now, things improved a bit.

1:00The Browns dropped to 9th most losses, with fewer than the Jets 94 in that span. Still, the damaged lingers, turning Cleveland into the poster trial for dysfunction in league circles. Their rep won't fade easy, but with smart moves ahead, the Browns could flip the script and silence the critics for good.