Browns: Team has 8th youngest roster, bodes well for the future

The Browns are set up for a long run at the top of the NFL.

The Browns’ current roster is pretty young, averaging just 24.8 years old. That puts the team in a three-way tie at 8th with the Indianapolis Colts and the Atlanta Falcons as one of the youngest teams in the NFL. This is a good sign for the Browns and their fans. If Cleveland can continue to keep their age down but be successful, then they can turn into a legitimate threat nearly every year for some time. Great teams don’t rebuild, if they have great management, they reload and if the Browns are able to refresh their roster every so often, then they’ll be able to be one of those teams.

Just look at the Cleveland Indians as proof. Great management is the key to success in sports. Finding the “next one up” is the difference between a “championship window” and a perennial contender.

For the Browns, just being young isn’t what makes the future so bright, it’s the actual players they have. There’s a lot of young and good players on this squad, with only six position players as of May 15 aged 30 or older. They are Chris Hubbard, Malik Jackson, Malcolm Smith, Damion Square, JC Tretter, and Case Keenum. None of those players are expected to be around in the next few years either.

There’s one position that needs to get younger.

When you look up and down the roster, the biggest position to start to consider the future of would have to be the offensive line. Arguably the league’s best in 2020, but that doesn’t mean they will be in 2022, or heck, even 2021. Joel Bitonio will turn 30 during the season, Tretter already is, as his Hubbard, Wyatt Teller will be 27 this year, and Jack Conklin will turn 27 as well. Now, being in your mid-to-late 20s isn’t a sign you’re about to retire, but players’ bodies do unexpected things once they hit 30. Bitonio and Tretter seem like the likeliest names to consider long-term replacements for at this juncture, but that’s not a sign of their current value. They’re still great players. Just, “how much longer?” is all we’re asking.

Bitonio has been a loyal player, so he shouldn’t be forced out the door, but at 30, and having played a physically demanding position, can you really say he’s going to be an All-Pro caliber guard still in 2023? That’s a long time away and a lot of things can happen.

So the Browns should consider what they have on the line. Luckily, they might have an embarrassment of riches at the guard position in the form of 20-somethings Michael Dunn, Drew Forbes, and Blake Hance. So the inevitable replacement for Bitonio might already be on the roster.

As for Teller, it might make sense to start looking for a center in the 2022 NFL Draft, probably in the second round or so, depending on how this season shakes out. Keeping the offensive line fully stocked, with talented players giving the team depth, is imperative to success in the NFL.