The Browns are approaching legitimacy, building a strong defense which could buy time for an offense that’s losing a key part, but adding a potential star in quarterback Johnny Manziel.
Their NBA neighbors got the quick-fix Friday, gaining superstar LeBron James.
But Browns cornerback Joe Haden said he wasn’t sure which team would win a title first.
“LeBron makes things happen pretty quickly, so we’re going to have to get to it,” Haden said during an NFL Network appearance, via the Akron Beacon Journal. " I say it’s going to be a tight fight. I know me and Manziel will be pushing to make that happen before. That’s why LeBron is coming here to bring a championship to the city and I’m trying to do the same thing.”
Haden joked that he’d give James his jersey number 23 if he’d join the Browns, but noted that the buzz around the NBA team didn’t discount the progress they’ve made.
“Even if LeBron hadn’t have come, I felt really confident about what we got going on as far as the Browns organization and the way the direction that we’re going,” he said. “This is just nothing but add-on to it. This just boosts peoples’ spirits up. I think at the end of the day, what we have with the Browns we feel like we can games, we feel like our defense is very, very, very strong. With [Johnny] Manziel and [Brian] Hoyer fighting for the quarterback position, Ben Tate at running back -- we’ve got a lot of different moving positions on offense. It could be special for us. I think with this team, we’re going to have a really big push.”
The simple math of 22 starters vs. five means it’s easier for one player to make a huge difference for the team, but if Manziel can play to the star-status he’s reached by hanging around James, the Browns could be interesting in the next few years.