Insider reveals why Kevin Stefanski doesn’t deserve to be blamed for this season

The Cleveland Browns have struggled to live up to expectations this season.

Given their performance last year, it was natural to expect them to be as good, or even slightly better, this year.

This was not the case.

Poor play from Deshaun Watson put the team back on offense on several occasions.

Analysts and fans urged the team to turn to Jameis Winston earlier in the season, but the team decided to stick with Watson until he suffered a season-ending injury.

This decision would have been up to the head coach most of the time.

This time, however, most reports indicate that it probably came from above.

That’s why Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto believes fans — or the organization — can’t blame Kevin Stefanski for the way things have gone this season:

“The coach was put in a bad position because of a decision that was ultimately an ownership decision. Yes, I heard that general manager Andrew Berry liked Watson as a player, as did others with the Browns. But when you bring in a player with a monster contract and ugly off-the-field baggage that divides a fan base, that’s an ownership move,” Pluto said.

This is entirely relevant.

The Browns’ decision to stick with Watson appeared to be driven by money, not performance.

Otherwise, it would have been extremely difficult to justify his continued presence on the ground.

Jameis Winston, while far from perfect, looks much better, as does the offense.

The team is stuck with Watson for two more seasons because he is still owed a lot of money.

Given his off-field controversies, injury proneness, and poor performance, it is highly unlikely that another team would willingly accept his contract.

In hindsight, giving him a fully guaranteed contract without even watching him play once for the team may not have been the wisest decision.

Yet it seems the owners only have themselves to blame.

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