The Cleveland Browns offseason plans hinge on veteran guard Joel Bitonio's retirement decision
The first major domino of the Cleveland Browns offseason comes in the form of veteran guard Joel Bitonio revealing what his future holds.
That decision is coming soon. Earlier this month, the two sides pushed a deadline in Bitonio's contract to March 10 for him to decide whether or not he's going to hang up his cleats or return for a 13th season.
In the meantime, Cleveland's brass has made it clear they'd like to have him back. New head coach Todd Monken even made his pitch to the 34-year-old already.
"He came up to the office a few weeks ago and we tried to talk him into it right then," Monken admitted at the NFL Combine this week. "I mean, but he was not in that position yet to say he wanted to come back. I'm for really good football players and I'm for really good football players that are wired like Joel."
One day after that March 10 deadline, Bitonio is schedule to become a free agent, if he opts for playing in 2026. Cleveland would then have to re-sign the longest tenured member of the team.
It's unclear if Bitonio would explore signing elsewhere, but given his affinity for Cleveland, it's safe to assume he'd have interest in returning to the only franchise he's ever known.
As the Browns enter a critical offseason that's likely to feature an offensive overhaul, bringing back Bitonio would be immensely valuable. Nobody is a better representative of the franchise than him. His years of experience is one of the most valuable voices the Browns could have in their locker room as they go through a rebuild on that side of the ball.
"There's not many wired like Joel," Monken said. "Like what he says, how he carries himself, how he prepares. I mean it's unbelievable. He's a rare, I mean how many years he played, how many years was it that he's played now? 12? 12 years. And the pounding he's taken and continued to play at such a high level."
Bitonio's decision is coming very soon. It will frame everything else the Browns attempt to do this offseason.
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