Are the Browns the next Rams? While We’re Waiting
February 5, 2019WFNY NFL Mock Draft Roundup 1.0: While We’re Waiting
February 6, 2019Miss football season yet? So do we. Although we have to wait seven months for the 2019-20 NFL season to kickoff, it’s never too early to talk about next season, especially with the Cleveland Browns (finally) on the rise and becoming a legitimate NFL franchise.
Expected to be considered real contenders and even projected by many to be the favorites to win the AFC North next fall, the Browns have gotten plenty of attention ever since Baker Mayfield took over halfway through the season and Freddie Kitchens worked his magic as a play-caller on offense. With plenty of talent back in the fold along with Kitchens now leading the charge as head coach, and with another draft to add talent and carrying over a league-leading $56.5 million in salary cap space to bring their total cap to about $82 million, the Browns have plenty of room and ability to add even more talent, both as starters and as depth. Now it’s just about doing all the right things this offseason to make sure they continue to improve and develop. They have all the tools to improve laying in front of them, it’s now just having the ability to use them the correct way that is most important.
With so much potential next season (and beyond), Bovada has given Cleveland 30-to-1 odds to win Super Bowl LIV next season. You read that correctly, Dawg Pound. Out of 32 teams in the NFL, the Browns are tied with the 13th-best odds to win the Super Bowl in 12 months. Let that sink in. A team that has continuously been in the cellar of not only the NFL but all Super Bowl odds seemingly since they returned to the league in 1999 not only has Cleveland excited, but has already put the rest of the NFL on notice. It’s just the fifth time in the last decade that Cleveland’s odds are less than 100-to-1 and they previously opened with the words odds to win the Super Bowl in each of the last three seasons.
For years, the “So, you’re telling me there’s a chance?” statement has been made as a joke more than anything when it came to the Browns winning the Super Bowl in the upcoming year, but even if it’s still slim chances this time around, that statement feels somewhat legitimate this time around. The fact that they are in the top half of the odds is a strange yet satisfying feeling. It gives the Dawg Pound hope, which is something that Cleveland fans have seemingly been searching on the gridiron since 1999.
This offseason is vitally important for both the short- and long-term success of the Browns but if these odds prove anything, it’s that they are not only going in the right direction, but Cleveland is starting to gain some believers as well. Instead of talking about the upcoming NFL Draft all season long, we’re talking about a playoff berth and Super Bowl odds. That’s a dangerous yet awesome feeling. It’s strange, honestly. This is fun, you guys! Now can we just fast forward to September?
The full list of odds for all 32 NFL teams, with the reigning Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots leading the way:
- Patriots: 13-to-2
- Rams: 7-to-1
- Chargers: 8-to-1
- Chiefs: 8-to-1
- Saints: 10-to-1
- Colts: 11-to-1
- Bears: 12-to-1
- Steelers: 16-to-1
- Packers: 18-to-1
- Vikings: 20-to-1
- Cowboys: 20-to-1
- Eagles: 20-to-1
- Browns: 30-to-1
- Falcons: 30-to-1
- Ravens: 30-to-1
- Texans: 40-to-1
- Seahawks: 40-to-1
- 49ers: 90-to-2
- Panthers: 50-to-1
- Jaguars: 50-to-1
- Giants: 50-to-1
- Titants: 60-to-1
- Buccaneers: 130-to-2
- Bills: 100-to-1
- Bengals: 100-to-1
- Cardinals: 100-to-1
- Broncos: 100-to-1
- Lions: 100-to-1
- Jets: 100-to-1
- Raiders: 100-to-1
- Redskins: 300-to-2
- Dolphins: 300-to-1