Joel Bitonio will be back for a 12th season with the Browns, but the left guard’s return for the 2025 campaign wasn’t a sure thing.
Bitonio took some time after the 2024 season to confirm that he’d be back in Cleveland and told Barry Shuck of Dawgs By Nature that he never doubted his ability to continue playing at a high level, but that “it was truly a decision” because of the way things played out last year. The Browns were 3-14 and went into the offseason with questions about quarterback and other spots on the roster that made it hard for Bitonio to immediately commit to returning.
The bad taste that the 2024 season left in Bitonio’s mouth along with the arrival of offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren turned out to be leading reasons why he decided to keep playing.
“It was tough. I did give consideration to retiring,” Bitonio said. “I was frustrated. Now, I don’t know if I would have the same conversation if we had gone to the playoffs again, and maybe were a 10-win team. But after having a successful year, followed by losing 14 was difficult. I questioned why I was playing this game. What am I doing here? The fact that we had a terrible season was not what I was expecting. I sat back and waited for a little bit. I talked to [head coach Kevin] Stefanski, then they brought in Bloomgren and advanced [offensive coordinator] Tommy Rees. He said they were going to draft a quarterback and make all these moves. I wanted to go out on a higher note than what we experienced last year.”
It remains to be seen if the Browns’ moves at quarterback will push the team back up the standings, but having Bitonio as part of the protection plan should help their bid for better results this time around.