Browns ownership aiming for contending playoff team in 2027 but says it's not punting on '26; Jimmy Haslam: 'I'll take the over'

The Cleveland Browns are building a $2.4 billion domed stadium that’s set to open in 2029. They’re also building a roster ownership hopes can make up a contending playoff team in 2027.

But JW Johnson, a partner of the Haslam Sports Group, emphasized Friday in a news conference alongside owner Jimmy Haslam that Cleveland isn’t punting on the 2026 season “by any means.”

“We're excited about how we're going to play, and we'll see how the schedule shakes out,” said Johnson, the husband of Jimmy and Dee Haslam’s daughter Whitney. “But the guys are ready to win this year. There's no mandate like, 'Hey, we got to just focus on '27 and beyond.' It's every year we want to win.”

Earlier, Haslam and Johnson were asked what success for the Browns looks like this season.

“I would say this, and we never do this, but I think the odds are for us to win 5 1/2 games,” Haslam said. “I'll take the over.”

The Browns have won five or fewer games back-to-back seasons. Granted they have an intriguing pool of young talent, but they notably traded away two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett — now the league’s single-season sack record holder — and might not have a long-term solution at quarterback in the facility at the moment.

Cleveland appears to be in a bit of an awkward spot, perhaps a bridge year under first-time NFL head coach Todd Monken, a 60-year-old offensive mind who most recently served as the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator the past three seasons.

During a rebuild, loading the clip for the future while maintaining excitement in the present is a tough balancing act. Haslam and Johnson were peppered with questions about the transition phase the Browns find themselves in ahead of the 2026 campaign.

As confident as Haslam seems to be that his football team will at least reach the six-win mark, he also spent time Friday establishing realistic goals, including when he was asked about how he intends to juggle embracing this developmental period while having “high expectations.”

“Well, I don't know how about 'high expectations,’” he said. “Let's say ‘improved expectations.’ OK? We're always careful, as you know, to set the expectations.

“I think we have made giant strides in our talent level the last two years. … I think we could have the chance to start double-digit first- and second-year players. And I don't care how good you are, it takes a little bit of time to improve, but we're really excited about the roster we've assembled.”

The glaring question mark is at the quarterback position, where veteran Deshaun Watson and second-year pro Shedeur Sanders are competing for the starting job. The winner of that battle might not even be QB1 in 2027, though.

Next year’s draft class is expected to be loaded with NFL-caliber signal-callers, after all.

“Listen, somebody might have a great year, and they're our quarterback forever. OK?” Haslam said. “Or neither of them might. I think it's way, way, way early to be talking about who's going to be our quarterback next year.

“We got to figure out who's going to start the first game.”

Haslam said he thinks the Browns’ contending quarterbacks will participate in this year’s preseason games, except he clarified that whether they do will be Monken’s call.

When asked about the idea of Cleveland timing a resurgence with the debut of its new stadium, Haslam shut down that theory quickly.

“I mean, we want to be a contending playoff team in '27, OK?” he said. “That doesn't mean we can't make it in '26, but the stadium does not come into play at all.”

Haslam took over the team in 2012. The Browns have made the playoffs only twice during his run as owner, and they’ve yet to win the division or advance past the AFC divisional round of the playoffs in that span.

“Our on-field performance, and this is more Dee and I, not Whitney and JW, is something that keeps us awake at night, and it's unacceptable,” Haslam said Friday.

“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. We know we've not performed.”