Cleveland’s to brass rejects national narratives about the Browns' expectations for 2026 season.
They say life's too short to bet the under. That also applies to the Cleveland Browns win total for 2026.
While many outside the team facility in Berea aren't expecting much from Cleveland this fall, team owner Jimmy Haslam isn't afraid to be bold.
"I would say this, and we never do this, but I think the odds are for us to win 5.5 games. I'll take the over," Haslam said when what success would look like for the franchise this season following Day 3 of training camp.
Those comments echoed those of team managing partner JW Johnson, who asserted that "winning" would determine how successful their team is this fall.
There are tangible reasons why expectations are low for the Browns, though. They enter the 2026 campaign as one of the youngest teams in football. This offseason they went through a major roster overhaul that included rebuilding the entire o-line, injecting some legitimate starters onto the roster through the draft, and trading their former best player Myles Garrett.
Most importantly, though, Cleveland still hasn't identified a franchise QB, perhaps the biggest factor why many assume this will be a gap year for the franchise. Many expect that answer to come via the 2027 draft, meaning this season is a gap year of sorts for the Browns.
Don't tell that to Haslam and Johnson.
"I just want to say we're not punting on this season, by any means" said Johnson as Haslam quickly underscored, interjecting an "at all."
"27, whatever, that's great," Johnson continued. "But we have high expectations for this team. Like I said, we had a lot of opportunity last year to win more games and we didn't. But this year is by no means a punt whatsoever ... There's no mandate like, ‘Hey, we got to just focus on ’27 and beyond.’ It's every year we want to win."
Winning hasn't been very common during Haslam's reign as owner. Since he took over the franchise in October of 2012, the Browns are 77-144-1. Over each of the last two seasons, they've won only eight games, boasting one of the worst offenses in football.
Haslam isn't running from those failures.
"We're blessed to get to do a lot of things. Hopefully most of them go well, but our on-field performance, and this is more Dee and I ... is something that keeps us awake at night and it's unacceptable," Haslam said of his time as owner alongside his wife, Dee.
"And I hate it the most for our fans because they deserve better than that. So we're working hard every day to not have that same kind of performance we've had in the past, but we don't have our head in the sand."
15 years of losing hasn't broken the confidence of team brass yet. Last year, Haslam said he expected the team to win more games than the three they won a year prior, and his team ultimately held up their end of the bargain.
The Browns will look to pull it off again, even with the house in Vegas betting against them.
