CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
As an engineer and a tech-oriented guy, I never thought I would have to wrestle with the issues facing modern media. But this somehow wound up being the field I'm spending my later-middle-age pursuing, so I find myself reading a lot of articles about how to survive in the turbulent news market of the 2020s. In recent years, we've seen the collapse of the ad market, a shift away from social media (primarily Facebook) as a source of traffic, and now we're seeing Google referrals of traffic decimated by AI.
If none of that seems appropriate to discuss for a Cleveland Browns website, you're right. I won't dive into it. Let's just say that change in the sports news business is happening fast and furiously.
We're not alone. Other elements of the news media are being buffeted by external pressures, and the introduction of news networks driven by a profit motive to tell people what they find ideologically appropriate for whatever part of the political spectrum they serve, rather than focusing on the facts and truth.
I remember the days of Walter Cronkite and his sports equivalents, sources you could trust to bring you the straight facts and allow you to make up your own minds. I had a great fondness for the late Hal Lebovitz, who would fill the Sunday paper with a page of news and rumors, but would always give you the straight truth, and was always accessible to fans. He was warning that Art Modell could leave when the rest of the media was leaning into Modell's denials. Taking a page from Hal's book, I always try to follow up on all emails sent to me via barry@theobr.com or private messages on these forums. We serve Browns fans, not the other way around.
So, I have my own particular philosophy about how we should do business, having learned the hard way from past mistakes the importance of getting things right.
Which brings us to Andrew Berry, whom I (frankly) like after years of hearing about him from those connected with him and seeing in him operation. I want to see him succeed, not only for Browns fans but also because he seems like a decent, smart person. But we have to tell the truth (as we see it) about his successes and failures in his role.
Let's remember that, as GM of the Browns, he has a responsibility to ownership and to the fans to win football games, not to be a conduit of the team's innermost thoughts. So, skepticism is warranted as he talks to the press, since he won't say anything that would hurt the team's positioning and long-term chances.
He met with the media Tuesday, which meant a lot of folks spent a perfectly good June morning parsing football-executive language like it was a hostage note written in cap terminology.
This is what we do now. Some people garden. Some people fish. Some people learn Spanish or pickle vegetables. Browns fans read general manager transcripts and try to determine whether "opportunity" means "strategy," whether "flexibility" means "rebuild," and whether "we'll deal with 2027 in 2027" means the quarterback room is once again the large, flaming piano being pushed down the stairs.
Berry's central message after trading Myles Garrett to the Rams was pretty clear: This was not the plan. This was not a fire sale. This was not because Garrett missed voluntary workouts. This was not because Garrett asked out again. This was not, at least according to Berry, a quarterback move.
And I think fans should be skeptical of that last part.
Not because Berry is necessarily lying. I don't think we need to turn everything around here into a courtroom drama, although, given this franchise's history, a bailiff would not be the worst addition to the press room.
But there is a difference between a statement being technically accurate and a statement telling the whole football truth.
Berry told reporters he "did not have this press conference on my bingo card for this spring," which is a line I appreciate because none of us (other than perhaps Jack Duffin) had "trade one of the greatest players in franchise history after extending him" on ours, either. My bingo card mostly has "quarterback controversy," "offensive line injury," and "everyone argues about whether 9-8 is possible until Thanksgiving."
The Browns traded Garrett to Los Angeles for edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 third-round pick. Berry said three things would have to be true for the Browns to even consider moving Garrett: short- and long-term benefits, premium draft capital, and "a young, cost-controlled star at a premium position."
Verse was the hinge. Berry called him "a perfect DNA match for our attacking front. Berry said Verse was "a huge part of this return." ProFootballTalk had Berry saying the "opportunity was too great" and that the Browns could not be "so dogmatic in your strategy and planning that you can't adjust and be flexible."
Andrew Berry
Andrew Berry at the 2026 Browns Golf Outing (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
That all makes football sense. Verse is not a throw-in. He is 25, the 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year, a two-time Pro Bowler, and has 12 sacks, 124 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, 45 quarterback hits, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and three passes defensed in 34 games.
So if Berry wants to say the Rams made a specific offer that changed the math, fine. I believe that. If Verse is not in the deal, I don't think we're having this conversation this morning. I'm instead probably bloviating about Denzel Ward rumors or whatever fresh pothole the offseason has dropped in front of us.
But then came the quarterback question.
Berry was asked whether the picks acquired for Garrett could help the Browns move up in the 2027 draft if they need to chase a quarterback. His answer: "I understand and respect the question. We're way too premature to figure out how we're going to deploy that asset. We've got an entire season to play. We've got a group of players that we're really excited to see this fall, and we'll deal with 2027 in 2027."
That answer is perfectly understandable from a general manager in June. He is not going to step to the podium, look at the current locker room, and say, "Yep, everybody, this is about finding the quarterback we don't currently have." That would be bad leadership, bad messaging, and probably bad for the blood pressure of several people already trying to sell season tickets.
But Browns fans are not required to pretend they were born yesterday in a Berea conference room.
This team just moved a generational pass rusher for a younger pass rusher and draft picks in 2027, 2028, and 2029. The biggest unresolved issue in the building remains the quarterback. The Browns have been in this same awful movie for most of our adult lives, and every time someone says, "Don't look over there," we have learned to look over there first.
The 2027 first-round pick matters because the Browns may need quarterback ammunition. The second and third matter because they can be used to build around a quarterback, trade for a quarterback, or clean up whatever financial and roster mess this organization is still hauling behind it like cans tied to a wedding car.
Maybe Berry did not wake up Monday morning and say, "Let's trade Myles Garrett so we can draft a quarterback in 2027." I can buy that.
But if he is asking fans to believe the quarterback problem had nothing to do with how the Browns valued future draft capital, I have a slightly used bridge near Brook Park and some lovely renderings to show you.
Around here, we have learned to read the spaces between the words. Sometimes that is paranoia. Sometimes it is survival. With this franchise, frankly, the two have built a nice duplex together.
Source links:
Fred's press conference coverage from yesterday;
BrownsZone on Berry's press conference;
ESPN on Verse being essential to the trade;
ProFootballTalk on Berry saying the opportunity was too great;
The Athletic on why history will judge the deal by QB;
ProFootballTalk on the Verse value;
Pro Football Rumors on multiple Garrett offers
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
Newswire Bloviation Archive
OBR GOODIES
OBR VIDEO
OBR ARTICLES
FROM THE FORUMS
ASK THE INSIDERS (VIP)
RUMOR CENTRAL (VIP)
INSIDER DISCUSSION (VIP)
THE WATERCOOLER
THE LIFT
Positive news from the world of sports and beyond...
A Wisconsin state trooper named Brody Schmitz stopped to help a motorist near I-90 and ended up with a new partner — or, as Good News Network properly punned it, a new "pawtner." (Get it?)
According to the Wisconsin State Patrol, the motorist had seen someone throw kittens from a moving vehicle. The offending vehicle was not located, but Schmitz found one kitten, took him to a nearby animal shelter while he finished work, and told them he wanted to adopt him.
The kitten is now named Toby, and somewhere in Wisconsin there is a tiny tuxedo cat who went from the side of the road to riding home with a state trooper.
I am not made of stone, people. I can pretend to be emotionally hardened by decades of Browns roster construction, but a rescued kitten named Toby will get me every time.
Read the Good News Network story
WRAPPING UP
When not trying to decode executive press conferences like an aging webdork with a laminated cap chart, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and bloviates this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
CONTACT Barry to sponsor the OBR. We have plans for nearly any budget!
OBR Across the Internet
OBR on BlueSky
OBR on Twitter
OBR on Threads
OBR on LinkedIN
OBR on Youtube
OBR on Twitch
OBR on Facebook
Handy Links
Sign up for our newsletter
Sign up for breaking news text alerts
OBR Unpublished RSS Feed
If you have made it this far, you must subscribe to the OBR. Them's the rules.
Subscribe to the OBR