The disappointment from Saturday’s playoff loss to the Houston Texans won’t be going away soon, but the Cleveland Browns have already turned the page quickly and have completed some major decisions to begin the 2024 offseason.
The first of them happened Wednesday when head coach Kevin Stefanski decided to fire offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and dismiss two of his offensive assistants: running backs coach Stump Mitchell and tight ends coach T.C. McCartney.
That suggests there will be more big changes to come on offense in 2024, but the Browns have a lot more decisions to make until that blueprint is finalized. We’re breaking down a few of them here.
This is the obvious one after this week’s news. Stefanski’s decision to move on from Van Pelt likely means the Browns will be re-tooling much of their offense — and they probably need to in order for Watson to meet expectations that have only been elevated for 2024 after the Browns showed promise of being AFC contenders in 2023.
The Browns are entering their third year with Watson and still face questions about the level he can perform at over the course of a full season.
That’s not ideal, but picking an offensive coordinator who can help him will be a crucial first step toward avoiding the same inconsistencies that have plagued him through his first 12 games in Cleveland.
