The Cleveland Browns were founded in 1944, however, many people didn’t know they didn’t want to be called the Browns. They wanted to be called the Panthers, and considering that the modern-day Panthers out of Charlotte, North Carolina, were not founded yet, they could have easily taken the name. The only thing wrong with this is that the Cleveland Panthers and Carolina Browns don’t sound right. More history about the Browns is according to profootballhof.com, “The teams of the AAFC basically were of comparable quality to those of the NFL, but in the first 10 years of post-World War II pro football, the Cleveland Browns proved to be the best in either league.” Even though we don’t consider the Browns to be the best team, they certainly used to be.
Okay, that’s enough about the history, let’s talk about the future. The Cleveland Browns are moving stadiums and cities for good. They are set to play in Brook Park, Ohio, so for fans who live south of Cleveland, you are in luck to watch your favorite team play close to home. They are moving about 15 miles south of Cleveland, but the stadium won’t have a better view than what it did up north, but it will have a fantastic glass dome. Some estimates say it will cost about 2.4 billion dollars to build. According to new5cleveland.com, “The Browns are still asking the county to issue bonds to generate up to $600 million for the project. That debt would be repaid using a mix of city and county taxes –tax revenues generated by the entire mixed-use development.”
The Browns are playing their first game in the new Huntington Bank Stadium in 2029, and will hopefully start construction in early 2026. The land they own will be 176 acres, which takes up the space of about 133 fields. So, if you think about it, every team in the NFL (National Football League) and the AFC (American Football Conference) could play just in the amount of land the Browns are planning to buy. Though the size of the land is huge, the actual stadium will only have 67,500 seats. This amount of seating will not make the stadium reach the top ten list for capacity made by FoxSports.com.
Now that we have discussed the stadium, let’s talk about the Browns’ 2025-2026 season roster. In 2022, Deshaun Watson signed a contract with the Browns for $230 million and is currently one of the best players on the team. Watson is good, but another great player is Miles Garrett. Miles signed a 4-year contract extension with the Browns in 2025, and that includes $40 million a year with $123 million guaranteed which makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL, surpassing Max Crosby’s deal, which is $35.5 million a year. Next up is Nick Chubb, according to Spotrac.com, “Nick Chubb signed a 1-year, $2,275,000 contract with the Cleveland Browns, including $925,000 signing bonus, $2,050,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $2,275,000.” Who knows if any of these players will play for the Browns or even still play in the NFL when their new stadium is built? Only time will tell.
