Can the Cleveland Browns mirror the Seattle Seahawks' path to becoming Super Bowl champions? There are signs that they're on a similar trajectory
Was anyone else watching the Seattle Seahawks dominate the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60 and thinking, this could be the Cleveland Browns in a few years?
Just me?
Given where the Browns are currently coming from – on the heels of a 5-12 campaign, and eight total wins over the last two seasons – I understand why it's hard to imagine. Their long history of losing since the franchise returned in 1999 won't help convince anyone they're very close, either.
Structurally, though, there are some key similarities that should make anyone reconsider.
The most obvious of those was on full display on the field in Santa Clara on Sunday night. Seattle's defense sacked Drake Maye six times over the course of 60 minutes, while forcing three turnovers, one of which was a Maye fumble that was returned for a touchdown.
Defensive dominance is the Browns' specialty at the moment. They have one of the best defensive lines in football, anchored by two-time defensive player of the year Myles Garrett. Watching Seattle's defense carry them for the majority of a 29-13 win felt oddly familiar to Sunday's in Cleveland.
In the building of a Super Bowl-caliber team, the Browns can undoubtedly say they've got that box checked. The current similarities between the two teams mostly end there. However, the Browns are in a position to mimic the path Seattle took to becoming a Super Bowl champion.
Back in 2023, the Seahawks had two first-round picks and used them to deliver two CB Devon Witherspoon at No. 5 overall and WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba at No. 20 overall. This year, as fate would have it, the Browns are in a very similar situation with the No. 6 overall pick and No. 24 overall pick.
In the same way, Witherspoon and, recently named Offensive Player of the Year, Smith-Njigba have become pivotal pieces of Seattle's success; Cleveland's two first-rounders could be similarly crucial in quickly turning around its fortune.
That also means the pressure is on Executive Vice President of Football Operations, Andrew Berry, to get those picks right. Considering the draft class he put together in 2025, he's in the middle of a heater. Can he carry it over to 2026? Back-to-back home run draft classes would be the exact injection of young talent the Browns need.
Two final pieces of the puzzle – arguably the biggest ones – remain, though, in replicating the Seahawks' blueprint. Cleveland needs the right coach, and the right quarterback.
In 2024, Mike Macdonald was hired as Seattles' head coach, with some pretty big shoes to fill, taking over for Pete Carroll, who took the team to two Super Bowls and won one. Two years in, Macdonald has already accomplished the same feat himself.
He was the right leader for the franchise at a time of transition. The Browns are hoping for the same outcome with Todd Monken.
Of course, no coach is complete without a quarterback to execute their offensive vision. For Macdonald, who also needed to hire the right OC since he's a defensive-minded guy, that wound up being Sam Darnold, who the Seahawks signed in free agency last offseason, to replace Geno Smith.
Darnold's revival has been well-documented at this point, but he's proof that situation, system and coaching matter when it comes to a player's development. That fact alone makes the Browns quest for a quarterback feel less daunting.
Maybe, just maybe, Shedeur Sanders can find similar stability and success with a coach in Monken who has preached leaning into his player's strengths over making them fit a specific system. Even if he doesn't, Cleveland will have options.
It can look for the next Darnold or Daniel Jones, who had a renaissance season with the Colts this year. It can try to find the next young star at the position in 2027 if they end up near the top of the board again.
A little over a decade since winning their first Super Bowl, the Seahawks didn't need to tank to get themselves back into title contention. When the Browns extended Garrett last offseason, they opted for taking a similar route.
The foundation is there. Now, it's about filling in the cracks. In this copy-cat league, they may just find themselves pulling off what the Seahawks just did, if they play their cards right from here.
That may be easier said than done. But what fun is the offseason without a little hope?
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