The Cleveland Browns' best offensive player may soon be adding another award to an already storied career.
This one, determined by the vote of other NFL players.
Browns’ left guard Joel Bitonio is one of the 32 nominees up for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, handed out every year in recognition of outstanding sportsmanship on the playing field.
Here are the NFL’s 32 nominees for the 2025 Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award: pic.twitter.com/zEjnHnHGg5
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 26, 2025
The award will be handed out during the upcoming NFL Honors Award Show.
Bitonio is the Browns’ nominee, as each one of the 32 NFL teams gets to name one during the season. The Award is named after the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Art Rooney.
A future Hall of Fame offensive lineman, Bitonio has earned multiple accolades throughout a 12-year career that includes seven Pro Bowls and two first-team All-Pro mentions, along three second-team All-Pro designations. Bitonio was also included in the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie team in 2014, after being selected in the second round of the NFL Draft out of Nevada.
A consummate leader on and off the field, Bitonio has started each and every game he’s played in as a pro, including 11 this year despite dealing with back issues at the beginning of the season.
Bitonio considered retirement at the end of last season, after a disappointing 3-14 record in 2024. He has yet to announce any formal decision regarding the 2026 campaign, stating recently that he’s taking it “game by game, week by week, play by play. Don’t wanna look too far into the future.”
Bitonio confessed to being impressed by rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders’ calmness as Cleveland’s new starter. “Maybe that was a facade on his part, but we got in the locker room, I think he took the second bus over, and when he got there, the whole time it just felt like he was calm and he was ready.”
Maybe the prospect of helping Sanders establish himself as the permanent starter beyond this season could convince Bitonio to stay on board with the Browns at least one more year. After all, his level of play seems as consistent as ever. Bitonio has a 72.2 overall grade for 2025 according to PFF, placing him 12th in the league among 80 qualified guards.
At 34 years old, Bitonio’s current deal with the Browns voids automatically at the end of the present season. So, he would need to rework his contract in order to stay in Cleveland for one or more seasons after 2025.