0-16 Browns

[Kelsi Corsi]

Brownsowner Jimmy Haslam confirmed that Hue Jackson will be the coach of the Browns in 2018. Haslam did not waver from his initial announcement Dec. 8 that Jackson will return and said that Jackson has provided "great leadership"

"I remember standing approximately here last year and apologizing to our fans for the poor job we had done as owners, and I would just reiterate that again. Our record is unacceptable, and we accept full responsibility for that.

"This part of the journey is over with," he said. "The two years of this has been tough. But I think we're at the end of that road. I think our players know it. I think the organization knows it. I know our fans don't.

"I don't want anyone thinking that just because we're 0-16 I'm going to walk out the door. That's not going to happen. We're going to get this thing fixed. That's what John Dorsey is here for. That's what I'm here for. We're going to fix this."

The Browns started 2017 with a three-point loss to the Steelers and continued on a steady, weekly path to Loserville with each game. They lost in two countries, two continents, eight states and nine stadiums -- including Twickenham, in London.

They lost by double digits nine times and came closest to victory Dec. 10 at home against Green Bay. In that game, the Browns led the Packers 21-7 early in the fourth quarter but lost in overtime 27-21. They also lost in overtime to Tennessee on Oct. 22. Four of their 16 losses were by three points, five by nine points or fewer.

Three other teams since 1960 have gone winless: The 1960 Dallas Cowboys were 0-11-1, the 1976 Tampa Bay Bucs were 0-14 and the 1982 Baltimore Colts were 0-8-1. The Lions and Browns share the mark for the greatest futility.

The Browns' only win in two seasons came over San Diego on Christmas Eve of 2016. They lost 14 in a row to start that season and lost 17 in a row after the win. While jarring and embarrassing, the winless season merely continues a string of shocking ineptitude by one team.

In those 10 seasons, the Browns have had six coaches, eight offensive coordinators, seven defensive coordinators, seven general managers and 20 starting quarterbacks. The Browns' tangible reward for the worst record in the league is the first pick in the draft in April, an "honor" the Browns hold for the second year in a row.

The intangible reward is the "Perfect Season Parade," to be hosted by fan Chris McNeil, which will take place Jan. 6 at noon. The parade will circle FirstEnergy Stadium, completing a zero around the stadium.

Their inglorious fate was sealed with Sunday's 28-24 loss to the Steelers, despite Pittsburgh sitting star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and workhorse runner Le'Veon Bell in the regular-season finale.

While rookie DeShone Kizer made some of his best throws all year -- with deep strikes to Josh Gordon (4/115) and Rashard Higgins (3/68/2) -- the Browns couldn't keep pace with a Steelers defense that piled up six sacks and saw backup passer Landry Jones throw for 239 yards and overcome a pair of turnovers while guiding Pittsburgh to four touchdown drives.

The historically notable defeat drops coach Hue Jackson to 1-31 over two seasons, joining him at the hip with Rod Marinelli, who guided the Lions to an 0-16 finish in 2008. The 1976 Buccaneers also finished winless at 0-14, but Cleveland achieved that feat weeks ago.

Jackson has now dialed up the most defeats by a coach over a two-season span in NFL history, but he's not going anywhere. Owner Jimmy Haslam announced Sunday that Jackson would return as head coach, saying, per Aditi Kinkhabwala: "I don't think Hue has lost (his) magic."

Cleveland lost four tilts this season by just three points, but consistently shot themselves in the foot with one of the worst red-zone offenses in memory. The overwhelmed Kizer led the league in turnovers for an offense that lacked identity from wire to wire and made life easy for opponents.

If there's reason for hope, it comes through the 2018 NFL Draft, in which the Browns own the top-overall pick and five selections over the first two rounds as part of the impressive haul amassed by jettisoned VP of football operations Sashi Brown.

After the Sashi-led front office passed on Carson Wentz and DeShaun Watson -- two transformative signal-callers -- it's a rock-solid bet the Browns use one of their two first-rounders on a quarterback.

The roster needs help from head to toe, but Dorsey has to be pleased with the presence of rookie pass-rusher Myles Garrett and a handful of productive players such as Gordon, Duke Johnson, David Njoku, Emmanuel Ogbah and Danny Shelton.

Blame the coaches. Blame the players. Blame the front office. Blame ownership. And last but not least, blame the severe football gods who have peered down on the Browns with utter disdain since their return to the league in 1999.

Buccaneers left tackle Tristan Wirfs is seeking a new deal heading into a contract year, and although the sides haven't found a number, general manager Jason Lict recently shared he believes Tampa Bay's left tackle should earn an income at the top of his field.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton started off training camp giving all three of his potential starting quarterbacks equal reps. Whichever way the competition trends in the next several weeks, first-round rookie Bo Nix is aiming to stay both flexible and prepared.

Third-year quarterback Brock Purdy enters training camp coming off his first full, healthy offseason to prepare as San Francisco's starter, and he's eager to build off that by turning in even more dominance than the 49ers did in 2023.

Garrett Wilson put up 1,000-plus yards in each of his first two NFL seasons while catching passes from the likes of Zach Wilson and Tim Boyle. Imagine what he can do with a fully healthy Aaron Rodgers.

Free-agent QB Ryan Tannehill says it's a "weird feeling" not being in camp for the first time since 2012, but following an offseason where he couldn't find a fit, the 36-year-old isn't desperately seeking a call.

A few thousand Browns fans gathered outside FirstEnergy Stadium on a frigid single-digit day to commemorate Cleveland's "perfect season," a week after the Browns lost to the Steelers to complete a 0-16 year. There's always next year, Cleveland.

The Browns are the subject of this year's "Hard Knocks" series, and the latest episode showed Wylie pontificating his belief on stretching. An exposition that goes a long way in explaining why the Browns went 0-16 last season:

(Wylie spits chew on player's mouthguard) "I'm sorry, did George Washington change strategy at Valley Forge when things got tough? Answer to that query is F*$k and No. It's not about stunts, it's about HEART."

"I knew there was a possibility that Jason was not going to be with the Browns for a second year, that they might be looking to move on, but as far as Jason getting the chance to be a Patriot, I never thought it would happen, even though I always had this dream it would," Harrell told NorthJersey.com and USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey from her home in River Vale, N.J.

Jason was notified around noon by Cleveland Browns officials that he was going to be released last March. The team even announced the transaction, which would have become official at 4 p.m. But the Patriots made sure Jason never hit the market.

So instead of cutting him, the Browns traded Jason to the Patriots along with a 2018 seventh-round pick for a sixth-round pick less than an hour before the paperwork went through at the league office.

And 10 months later, the Patriots are heading to Atlanta for their third straight trip to the Super Bowl, the fifth for Devin. This will be Jason's first Super Bowl appearance in nine NFL seasons -- in what has been his first playoff appearance -- after going 0-16 with the Browns last season.

Jason had promised he was ready to return to Cleveland this season and continue to help the Browns turn the corner. He never expressed jealousy of Devin, a two-time Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots.

In an interview with NorthJersey.com and USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey last year, Jason said he wouldn't give up on the idea of one day hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy or at some point becoming teammates again with Devin, one of the more respected players in New England throughout Belichick's tenure.

He planned on using them only if Devin and the Patriots were able to defeat the Seattle Seahawks and capture the Vince Lombardi Trophy, which ended up happening under thrilling circumstances with a record-setting audience watching on television.

Jason sprinted out of the hotel when Malcolm Butler clinched New England's 28-24 victory over Seattle with that last-minute end-zone interception, making it just in time to be there on the field and soak in the championship moment with his brother.

"There's no envy or jealousy on my part, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to go once," Jason said previously. "But this year, going 0-16, this season was really, really hard. Watching his journey has been the next best thing to being able to play in a playoff game. When you watch the guy who grew up alongside of you, who used to wake up Sunday mornings with you before a Pop Warner game and go over all of our plays, you just think back on all those periods in our life, high school football, sharing what our dreams would be.

"Being on the field [with Devin after the Patriots won Super Bowl XLIX in Arizona three years ago], with the confetti and all of that, just to be able to share those moments with one another, it's been great for me. Once my season ends, I'm a brother and a fan."

"0-16szn" Manziel wrote under a photo of him doing his signature money celebration. As far as trolling goes, it's a weak effort, and Manziel deleted the caption soon after. It's a bit odd that Manziel is poking fun at the Browns for going winless. His career flaming out is one of the bigger reasons Cleveland has been so bad over the last few seasons.

The Jets, last-second losers Sunday to Las Vegas, might add to the ranks of the winless this season, but the 2017 Browns joined the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams to finish 0-16 since the schedule was expanded in 1978.

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