Saturday Dawg Chow: Browns news (2/17/24)

More of the latest Browns news and notes from around the web in today’s dose of the Saturday Dawg Chow.

Dawgs By Nature:

• Browns reportedly floated stadium renovation plan to city officials (Thomas Moore) – It is not exactly a state secret to say that Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam are interested in upgrading the team’s current situation at Cleveland Browns Stadium. On the heels of a recent report that the Haslams are looking at – but have not bought – 176 acres of land in the suburb of Brook Park, comes a report from Signal Cleveland that the team pitched a renovation plan to local officials last fall.
• Browns NFL draft history: WR picks since 2010 is a sad reminder (Jared Mueller) – Wide receiver is one expert’s pick for where the Cleveland Browns will go in the 2024 NFL Draft. While the team has done a good job drafting recently, the wide receiver position has been a problem for years, as the list of receivers drafted by the team since 2010 is sad and concerning.
• Browns Offseason: Roster breakdown by position and contract status (Matt Wilson) – The Cleveland Browns have done a great job over the past 3-4 seasons with positional development and player acquisition, which has helped mold the current roster into what it is today. Now they can put the finishing touches on it and prepare for another playoff run in the 2024 season. To better understand where some of the current current roster “holes” might be, let’s take a look at the present roster makeup.
• Browns offseason: What is the biggest question for the team? (Jared Mueller) – With the NFL offseason (free agency, draft) around the corner, the Cleveland Browns offseason will once again be interesting. Here are some of the bigger questions facing the team.

Cleveland Browns:

• Which Browns player is most likely to have breakout season in 2024? (cleveland.com) – The Cleveland Browns had a handful of younger players continue to make leaps in their development last season. But who seems most poised to continue that development next season?
• Kevin Stefanski says new OL coach Andy Dickerson will bring ‘passion and energy’ (Browns Zone) – Andy Dickerson has big shoes to fill and an important job to do. The Cleveland Browns made official his hiring as offensive line coach Thursday — it had been previously reported — and he’ll replace respected veteran coach Bill Callahan.
• Haslams keep options open for Brook Park site (NEOtrans blog) – NEOtrans’ scoop last week that the owners of the Cleveland Browns are reportedly buying a 176-acre parcel in suburban Brook Park led to a flurry of discussion about what that means since the sources didn’t say why. The most obvious speculation is that the land is for a new stadium venue for home games for the National Football League franchise. But that may be only partly true. Instead, one option is to apparently use it as part of a land trade for a stadium.
• The odds for the Cleveland Browns winning the 2025 Super Bowl are long (Beacon Journal) – Following a thrilling Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, it’s not too early to start looking ahead to next year’s big game. So what about the Browns following an 11-win season in which they beat those very same 49ers? Their odds aren’t as good as you might think.

NFL:

• Raiders quarterback suspended 2 games by NFL, affecting contract (Las Vegas Review-Journal) – The NFL is suspending Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for two games for violating the league’s Performance Enhancing Substances policy, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
• 2023 NFL rookie grades: Ranking the classes, 1 to 32 (NFL.com) – In a matter of months, the 2024 NFL Draft will usher a new wave of talent into the league. Before we get there, though, Eric Edholm and Chad Reuter are taking a team-by-team look back at the rookie class of 2023. Upon the completion of this series, Edholm and Reuter collaborated to officially rank every group, from 1 to 32. Here’s the pecking order.
• The five biggest questions of the NFL offseason (The Ringer) – Will the quarterback market get reset—and how many times? Who are the most interesting players of free agency? And what will the Bears do with the no. 1 pick? Answering those questions and more ahead of the 2024 offseason.
• Ravens optimistic about Zach Orr’s bump to DC (ESPN) – The last time Zach Orr sat on the stage of the Baltimore Ravens auditorium for a news conference was January 2017, when the game was suddenly ripped away from him. Orr was forced to announce his retirement at the age of 24 because of a congenital spine and neck condition that was discovered during an end-of-season physical. Seven years later, Orr found himself back on that same stage, fulfilling a passion that began as soon as his All-Pro playing career had ended. Last week, he was introduced as the ninth defensive coordinator in Ravens history, getting promoted one day after Mike Macdonald left to become the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach.