The Cleveland Browns failed to impress with their 2023 offseason grade

The Cleveland Browns have not done enough this offseason to earn a high grade.

The Cleveland Browns have tried to re-shape their defense with a shoestring budget this offseason, and depending on who you ask, you either like the moves they made, or you don’t. There isn’t one move that is universally loved by everyone and for good reason. The team gave up a second-rounder for Elijah Moore, a lackluster performing wide receiver, with a series of personal issues that the New York Jets just got fed up with dealing with.

They also drafted an injury-plagued receiver, with only one year of production to his name. Not only that, they gave Obo Okoronkwo big money for what he may be able to do with the team, not what he’s done in previous stops.

Still, they brought back Ethan Pocic, who had a good year in 2022 despite his flaws as a pass-blocker. They did get their best defensive tackle in a couple of years when they brought in Dalvin Tomlinson. And while he’s mostly on par with John Johnson III, Juan Thornhill is being seen as someone who can upgrade the Browns’ secondary.

So there’s good and bad with the Browns’ offseason, and due to that, it’s not surprising that CBS Sports Cody Benjamin gave the Browns a pretty unimpressive grade of a “C”.

Benjamin explained why the Browns have a “C” currently, saying;

"The reunion with QB Joshua Dobbs behind Deshaun Watson makes sense. Ditto for the extension of breakout C Ethan Pocic. They paid quite a bit for a run-stuffer in DT Dalvin Tomlinson, and they’re counting on younger vets like DE Obo Okoronkwo and S Juan Thornhill to reach new heights in new scenery. Swapping picks to land WR Elijah Moore from the Jets, however, was a creative way to bring some added juice opposite Amari Cooper out wide. And their third-round addition of WR Cedric Tillman Jr. bolsters that position further."

The Cleveland Browns offseason is unremarkable on paper but we don’t truly know what they’ll be for some time.

I agree with the grade of a “C” by Benjamin. That grade, however, is specifically for how the team looks after its offseason. Not for how they play during the 2022 season. If the Browns maximize the talents they acquired and develop others further who were already on the roster, then clearly how the offseason is viewed will be wildly different when we get new context.

Until then, however, you can’t argue that most of the Browns’ offseason moves were done with “potential” in mind. The Browns receiving corp will be good if someone like Moore elevates his game. The offense may be good if rookie Cedric Tillman Jr. adapts to the NFL. The Browns’ offense will be good if Pocic duplicates his successful 2022 campaign.

All of these, and so many others, are simply unknowns to the team. If you bring in a top-performing player, you will generally have an idea what that guy can do, but so many of the Browns’ offseason acquisitions are unknowns. Players, we simply don’t know if they’re going to develop and produce as their pay calls for them to do so.

That is what makes this whole offseason hard to be optimistic about. So much of this team’s success in 2023 is dependent on unknown variables being given significant time and money. If guys like Moore and Okoronkwo don’t have massive seasons, this team will struggle once again.

And then what?