If this doesn’t sum up the Cleveland Browns, I don’t know what does.
The NFL released their annual coaches photo yesterday, a group shot of all of the league’s head coaches that’s taken annually during the league’s spring meeting.
Well, almost all of them.
This year’s photo featured 30 of the 32 head coaches, with Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay missing out on the photo along with new Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken.
While we don’t know why McVay was missing from the group shot, Monken explained why he missed the annual tradition in his first year as a head coach…and it’s the most Browns thing I’ve ever heard.
According to Cleveland.com, the photo was listed on the agenda for noon pacific time – so Monken decided to skip out on the meeting that was scheduled right before the picture so that he could get a haircut for the photo.
But when he got finished with the trim, he ran into Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Cohen, who informed him that the meeting had ended early and the photo had already been taken. So Monken missed the group photo because he was getting a haircut…for the group photo.
Classic Browns.
Monken is in his first year as an NFL head coach after having previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens since 2023. He has also spent time in Cleveland in the past, serving as offensive coordinator for the Browns in 2019.
He’s taking over a team that went 5-12 last year under previous head coach Kevin Stefanski, and has faced a dysfunctional quarterback situation over the past…well, as long as I can remember.
Back in 2022, the Browns gave alleged sexual predator Deshaun Watson a $230 million, fully-guaranteed contract, which was the largest in NFL history at the time it was signed. It’s a move that will surely go down as one of the worst contracts in NFL history and shows you just how competent the Browns are as an organization. But anyway, I digress.
Watson was suspended for 11 games in 2022 due to the sexual assault allegations against him, and then suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in 2023. He was able to return in 2024, only to tear his Achilles in week seven of the season – and he hasn’t seen the field since.
The uncertainty surrounding Watson led the Browns to draft both Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders last season, while kicking off 2025 with veteran Joe Flacco as their starter. But midway through the season the team decided to trade Flacco to their rival Cincinnati Bengals and give Gabriel his first NFL start.
Well Gabriel started five games before suffering a concussion, which forced the team to turn to their former third string quarterback Shedeur Sanders as the starter. And while Sanders seemed to be an improvement over Gabriel, he still managed to lead the team to only a 3-5 record as the rookie attempted to adjust to his role as an NFL quarterback.
Still, the Browns have a new head coach and a promising starting QB in Shedeur Sanders who’s got the job locked up, right?
Maybe not, because this week team owner Jimmy Haslam left open the possibility that Watson could return this season and reclaim the starting job:
“Deshaun has a great chance, fresh start, offensive-minded coach, who has in his past been able to work with all kinds of different quarterbacks and make them successful. So, Deshaun has a great chance to do that now.”
What a disaster.
I hope Monken keeps his hair looking nice for his next job interview, because it seems like things are already off to a rough start for the new head coach…but then again, it’s the Browns, so what do you really expect?
