Anthony Schwartz has got to have a big year for the Cleveland Browns or he could be gone

The Cleveland Browns need the most out of Anthony Schwartz as possible.

The Cleveland Browns are going into 2022 with a rather lackluster-looking receiving corp. A lot of the corp being good is based around the idea of “if”. “If” Amari Cooper can return to his Pro Bowl form, “if” Donovan Peoples-Jones takes the next step, “if” David Bell can transition to the pro game, and of course, “if” Anthony Schwartz can improve from a dreadful 2021 campaign; then this team may have a great passing game.

I think Cooper is on the downswing of his career, but I don’t see him dive-bombing. I think it’ll be a gradual two or three-year decline. He may be able to muster a few 1,000-yard seasons in the meantime. I think Peoples-Jones is as good as he’ll be but that’s good enough to be a team’s third receiver. I think Bell has a decent shot at making waves.

The biggest concern and the one I’m most doubtful about is the future of Schwartz. He wasn’t a seventh-round project pick. He was a second-round prospect who fell to the third out of happenstance. The Browns can ill afford another season of his unevenness.

It wasn’t just his foot injury that hampered him either, as he genuinely looked like he either didn’t know the route or know the best way to run them. With the Browns’ timing offense last year that was crucial. That won’t be the case this year, and there may be more back-yard style play implemented.

If that’s the case then Schwartz will get his best shot at producing. If he has a similar season in 2022 that he did in 2021, then it’ll be time to cut bait.

The Cleveland Browns can’t afford to let guys “find themselves any more

After two years, you know what a player is. Some will want to argue four, others three, but after two you know who that guy is or isn’t. There are always outliers, sure, but for the most part, you know if that guy is going to be something after two years.

The Browns can’t wait until the 2025 offseason to know if Schwartz is something worth hanging on to. They don’t have that luxury anymore with the moves they’ve made in recent months. This is clearly a win-now team and that means a team’s patience for developing talent is much more accelerated. This isn’t just for Schwartz, but for any young and un-proven talent.

If Schwartz has a fine year, he’ll be brought back. If he bottoms out again this year as he did last year, the Browns would have no reason to bring him back. They clearly have no problem drafting receivers, so if he can’t live up to his lofty expectations as a “third-round steal”, then there’s no point in wasting a roster spot on him that could be better used on another rookie receiver who can do the job.

Or at least, that you hope can do the job.