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Just to talk about something fresh:

What are we going to do about our aging line?

Bitonio might retire, Wills is...uhhh shaky, Teller and Conk are getting up there, Ethan good for another year or two.

Zach Zinter is a young guard, let’s give him time, Nick Harris just isn’t NFL material,Dawand has shown good things when healthy, James Hudson is reliable - usually - but not close to elite.

Who else am I forgetting and what might we do?

What MUST we do?

And please, keep the Berry bashing and the Stefanski bashing out of it.

Luke Wypler - C
Micheal Dunn OG

Just to be clear on what you are saying.

OL Starters
LT Wills, a FA and most likely not to be resigned
LG Bitinio, 34 yrs old - final year of contract - 50/50 he retires
C Pocic, 30 years old - final year of contract
RG Teller, 31 years old - final year of contract
RT Conklin, 31 years old - fragile player missing 33 of 57 games (58%) the last 4-years, 2-years remaining on contract
TE Njoku, 29 years old - final year of contract, only 1-year in career with over 639 yds receiving - has never met expectations for salary paid

Backups
G Zinter, 2nd year player who struggled when inserted as a rookie
C Harris, FA who was let go once before already - goodbye #2?
T Hudson, 26 years old, a FA
T Jones, 3rd year player, coming back from season ending injury, has a history of weight control issues

Solution: the Browns need to have a total rebuild of the o-line and TE starting this year. The longer they wait to start the rebuild will add a minimum of 2 additional years of growing pains. 80% of the OL starters not including the TE will be FA's this year or next. The TE will also be a FA next year too. IMHO, none of them are worthy of a larger contract going forward at this stage in their careers. Basically, 5 out of 6 starters will be FA's this year or next with the only one position actually under contract for longer who has missed 33 of his last 57 games in 4-years. Urgently need a full REBUILD!

We have Javion Cohen under contract also. Hopefully he works out better in "Stefanski's" offense than whatever that mess was last year. If we draft a guard in the mid rounds, fine, but I'm also fine just trying to develop Zinter and him behind Bitonio and Teller for now.

Think Hudson is a free agent. Wouldn't mind bringing him back as depth at the right price. Wouldn't hate bringing Ifedi back as depth, either. Looks like we have Lorenzo Thompson and Julian Pearl under contract as developmental guys as well. See if one progresses enough to stick in camp.

I'd like to draft a more athletic tackle this year. Someone that can get to the second/third level in the run game better than Jones. If Conerly is there at 33, I think he's a great fit for us/wide zone (and has the potential to be a great fit for anything, really, as he naturally adds weight/strength.) Let Jones heal up and be the swing tackle before replacing Conklin at RT. Or just develop the rookie behind Dawand if Jones is healthy for the beginning of the season.

Apparently there’s talk of going back to the zone blocking scheme, which had been a strength.

After the season, Joel talked about how little he had been used as a pulling guard last season, which was also something Teller was adept at doing.

Even if we get another year of two from our starting guards, we need to put get some young ones on the OL, too.

Thanks jester, I had forgotten Wypler.

Yeah, I'm not sure if we'll go back to exactly what we did before, but bringing back what the OL did best makes sense to me.

I see guard as more of a potential next year problem. Zinter was a top 100 pick and I liked Cohen going into last year's draft. Hopefully there is a year two jump.

If the value is there at guard on day 3 of the draft, go for it. I see more impact on days 1 and 2 elsewhere. Don't want to draft an almost definite backup in the top 3 rounds, but if the right guy on the IOL "falls," BPA works.

If Bitonio retires that changes things, but it sounded/read to me like he's leaning towards coming back. Hopefully we'll hear a decision soon.

I look for the Browns to address the line in the draft, but unless we take a LT early I don't see us drafting anybody that will start this season.

BTW Steve Zinter did struggle in his first season. But remember so did Teller and most NFL guards.

I think the preference is to go into the offseason with the following penciled in as starters:

LT- Jones
LG- Bitonio
C- Pocic
RG- Teller
RT- Conklin

Overall, age doesn't concern me as much as injury history. Specifically, at the tackle position. Both tackles, the past two years, have struggled with injuries. So acquiring good depth should be a priority and I don't consider James Hudson "good depth". If Bitonio retires, I think we look to Zak Zinter to replace Bitonio. I'm cautiously optimistic about his prospects as an NFL starter.

I think our problem last year was more about our OL coach and losing Callahan than player performance and I'm glad to see Stefanski taking the reigns back and going to the offensive scheme that has worked for him. We'll see.

The Oline is not as bad as the chicken littles on here like to point out. Viewing the issue before free agency and the draft can make things look one way and then viewing it after it could look totally different.

I would expect the Browns to sign a veteran free agent to the OLine I know Quincy Carrier has referenced the center from Atlanta multiple times on his show Drew Dalman as a possible option. If you cannot sign him maybe Pocic 1 more year while you get Luke Wypler ready. His injury last season might have set his timetable back some taking over the reins at Center. He can play guard or backup guard if Bitonio retires. I expect the Browns to draft a tackle somewhere in this draft. So just with 1 free agent addition and 1 drafted addition the OLine could look something like this after this season. Then get a coupe addition again next off season. This scenario even assumes Bitinio retires, Conklin and Pocic are cut. All of that may or may not happen. Either way the sky is not falling as the chicken littles want you to believe. Don't be surprised if the Browns draft multiple TE's and RBs in this year's draft class. Both positions are positions of strength in this draft class and quality players will be taken even on day 3 of the draft.

2025
LT - Drafted player or Jones
LG - Bitinio / Zinter
C - Free Agent / Wypler
RG - Teller
RT - Conklin / Jones or drafted player

2026
LT - Drafted player or Jones
LG - Zinter
C- Free Agent - Wypler
RG - Teller
RT - Jones or drafted player

I don't like Hudson as a starter at tackle. I liked him as a 6th OL. When they put him in motion and had him act like a FB/H-Back/battering ram, I thought it was great. I'd really like to try to make him a center. I think you can cover up his weaknesses there. If it doesn't work, oh well. We've started worse tackles as well. I don't want him on an island, but he can survive with TE help.

I tend to agree agree with you. From my perspective what we saw last season was a simple case of trying to fit square pegs into round holes. That never turns out well.

Looks like another year of Pocic is in the cards with the way the contract is setup to me. Would take on ~6M in dead cap to move on. Then need to pay out market value (possibly above with our (national) outlook) to the replacement. Don't see it with the constraints they have to consider.

Hitting in this draft is paramount. It's part of the reason I think they play it "safe" and avoid a QB at 2. Gotta take advantage of the rookie contracts. Can't afford another miss, almost literally. Certainly not one with the biggest contract tied to it.