The Pittsburgh Steelers will attempt to defend their 2025 AFC Championship next season and it won’t be easy. Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow alone make the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals threats in the division. But is anyone taking the Cleveland Browns seriously?
Consider former Steelers and Browns cornerback Joe Haden officially on the bandwagon.
“I’m going Cleveland,” Haden said on the 4th And South Podcast when asked who he was picking to win the AFC North.”We still need receivers. We still need to get another tackle. But I’m not mad at Shedeur and our defense is fire. We need to make sure now we score some points.
“I like Pittsburgh, we don’t have a quarterback right now but we’re going to figure something out.”
Haden may be one of the few people who is qualified to say ‘we’ when referencing both the Steelers and Browns, but his love for both franchises surely shines through in this case.
It should be noted that Haden wasn’t the only member of the podcast to pick Cleveland to win the division. Former NFL running back Leonard Fournette, the co-host of the podcast along with Jarvis Landry, is also leaning towards Cleveland and a large part of his thinking also seems to be his belief in Sheduer Sanders at quarterback.
The logical question is whether Sanders will even open the season as the Browns’ starting quarterback.
There seems to be growing belief, even from Browns’ ownership, that Deshaun Watson could return as a starter after missing all of last season with an injury. After trading for Watson in 2022 and handing him a fully guaranteed five year contract, he has only started 19 games over three seasons and missed all of 2025 with an Achilles injury.
In the 2025 draft, Cleveland selected both Dillon Gabriel (3rd round) and Sanders (5th round) and both received playing time as rookies. Sanders started the final seven games of the season for Cleveland, posting a 3-4 record, but notably beating the Steelers at home in Week 17 and denying them the chance to clinch the AFC North.
If the Browns are going to make any noise in 2o26, they will likely be led by their defense. Last season, Cleveland’s defense finished fourth in total yards allowed per game and Myles Garrett set the sack record en route to being named the Defensive Player of the Year.
Todd Monken will take over as head coach after three seasons as the Ravens offensive coordinator.
There is still much to be sorted out this offseason as the Browns hold nine selections in the draft and will look to add some playmakers to their offense. But is it realistic to expect the Browns to win the AFC North for the first time in their history?
In a division with only one returning head coach (Zac Taylor in Cincinnati) and two teams with uncertainty at quarterback, at least until Aaron Rodgers makes his intentions known, anything can happen. A stable answer at the quarterback position will likely be the first step in securing any prize in 2026. Though, the same can also be said for the Steelers.
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