For years the Cleveland Browns, and their fans, have hoped for the team to have players worth building around. That often led to the focus being on players with high upside. With an uncertain future, high upside players gave the team hope of creating a foundation.
That was then, this is now. In 2021, the Browns have their foundation and a group of players worth building around. With that in place, Super Bowl talk has replaced NFL draft discussions. All for the better.
That big change can also have an impact on roster decisions.
In the past, Cleveland would be looking for the biggest, the fastest and the strongest with the hope that those traits could lead to something more. Those traits set the player’s talent ceiling. In 2021, those traits still have value but not as high.
Instead, the Browns know they have players who can help them win games. From Baker Mayfield to Myles Garrett to John Johnson III to Nick Chubb (the team has so many highly talented players this list could go on for a whole paragraph). As they decide who will make the bottom of the roster, knowing that a player will not make mistakes will be more important.
A player’s ability to not be the weak link, to not give up the big play and to protect his teammates sets the player’s talent floor.
As the final roster is set in Cleveland, expect a player’s consistent talent floor to help the team make decisions around the last few roster spots even if that means cutting loose higher talented players.