A computer can only spit out a result after whatever a human puts in.
So do you not have to accept the bad news being delivered by ESPN's computer model, the "Football Power Index,'' which has released its projections for the 2025 season.
But it is indeed bad news.
And most Browns fans - sadly - are probably rather used to this.
The "Football Power Index'' claims to be "a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 10,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule."
That sounds like a bunch of gibberish to us. But ... to the list, and the bottom five prediction as to which clubs will be the league's worst in 2025 ...
According to ESPN's computer model, it goes something like this ...
1 - New Orleans Saints
2 - Tennessee Titans
3 - Cleveland Browns
4 - New York Jets
5 - Carolina Panthers
The New Orleans Saints are an easy pick as they lost injured quarterback Derek Carr to retirement and are starting over under rookie head coach Kellen Moore.
Maybe the Titans - the NFL's worst team a year ago, which allowed them to take Cam Ward at No. 1 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft - are also rightfully projected to be bad again.
And then there are the semi-perennials.
The Browns, along with the Jets and the Panthers, are predicted to round out the bottom five ... which in the case of Cleveland means something akin to a repeat of 2024, when coach Kevin Stefanski's bunch managed just a 3-14 record. ...
And now might be on the verge of more of the same.