NFL Insider suggests that the Cleveland Browns are already having conversations with potential replacements for head coach Kevin Stefanski
A major shakeup may be coming to the Cleveland Browns power structure following Sunday's matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speculation has swirled in recent weeks that team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam are weighing their options when it comes to potentially firing head coach Kevin Stefanski after yet another losing season.
No one knows definitively what the Haslams will decide just yet, but a recent nugget from ESPN's Jeremy Fowler suggests the groundwork is already being laid for a change to be made.
"Cleveland, Las Vegas, those are two places I see as like, they've done their preliminary research for a potential move. Doesn't mean they're locked into doing it, or that they've decided yet, but those are certainly on my radar," Fowler said during an appearance on the This is Football Podcast.
The comments come after NFL insider Josina Anderson recently shared that Browns ownership has held preliminary meetings with former GM's Chris Grier and Tom Telesco about adding senior voices inside the organization.
Such a move would potentially be in response to losing former Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta earlier this season. DePodesta left Cleveland to take the Colorado Rockies GM job after spending 10 years as the closest confidant of the Haslams.
It's unclear how deep any "preliminary research" or conversations with potential candidates have gone. But what seems abundantly clear from these reports is that ownership is getting its ducks in a row in case a change becomes inevitable.
Currently, the Browns are finishing off a second-consecutive losing season, as they sit at 4-12 on the 2025 campaign. This past weekend, the Browns pulled off an upset win over top rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers, to earn a fourth, marking at least a slight improvement upon last year's 3-14 mark.
The fact that the team has remained competitive down the stretch, and if they are again on Sunday in Cincinnati, could go a long way potentially persuading the Haslams to retain Stefanski and current general manager Andrew Berry and keep everything status quo.
Then again, seven wins in two seasons doesn't guarantee anything in the NFL. These pivotal decisions will all come to a head over the next few days as the power structure in Cleveland could look much different one week from now.