The Browns completed one of the most dramatic offseason overhauls this past weekend, curating an active roster that looks and feels different than ones in years past.
What else did you expect after the franchise's first winless season?
"The truth is, when you're 0-16 you should probably start doing that," general manager John Dorsey said Tuesday in a wide-ranging interview on Browns Daily.
Dorsey, hired in December to oversee Cleveland's front office, has led a charge that's fundamentally transformed a Browns team that has won one game over the past two seasons. When they announced their 2018 squad Sunday afternoon, 31 of the Browns' 53 active roster players were new additions since the start of the year, a group that includes starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor, wide receiver Jarvis Landry, free safety Damarious Randall and high-profile rookies Baker Mayfield and Denzel Ward.
It's why optimism abounds in Northeast Ohio that these new-look Browns might be able to make a painful recent past into a much brighter future. Taylor gives Cleveland arguably its best quarterback since 1999; Landry, a three-time Pro Bowler, is a bonafide playmaker; and Mayfield and Ward are expected to be cornerstones for years to come.
The Browns showcased some of that promise in the preseason. Cleveland's defense, headlined by Myles Garrett, a trio of linebackers as good as any and a revamped secondary, flashed stretches of dominance. The offense, though admittedly a work in progress, has ample potential with Taylor, Landry, wide receiver Josh Gordon, tight end David Njoku and running backs Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson.
Cleveland hosts the Steelers Sunday in the season opener. Dorsey can't wait to see how head coach Hue Jackson and a new-look team perform.
"This is what you've been building toward since the start of the new season -- which was January for us -- and then all the hard work and execution of those plans that were laid out," he said. "I couldn't be happier where we are today right now. I can't wait to kick this thing off a couple of days from now."
