While Cleveland Browns fans are busy celebrating the latest contract extension of their five-time Pro Bowl cornerback, Denzel Ward, Pittsburgh Steelers fans can't help but laugh at the irony of their offseason.
Ward has an excellent reputation around the league, but the fourth overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft is coming off an up-and-down season in 2025. On Tuesday, ESPN insider Adam Schefter reported that the Browns have reached a two-year, $62.2 million extension with Ward, making him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history, in terms of per-year value.
The irony is that this is the same franchise that traded Myles Garrett during the 2026 offseason. So what are the Browns doing? They can't seem to pick a direction.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans know that the window for the Cleveland Browns is not now
Let's admit it: the Steelers aren't the best example of capitalizing on playoff windows. Team president Art Rooney II and general manager Omar Khan are naive enough to believe this is a Super Bowl contender, even though they didn't come close to resembling that last season.
But the Browns are in a far worse state with no sense of direction.
Cleveland should have been either all in or all out; there's no in between. If the Browns were fine with trading away Myles Garrett—the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, two-time DPOY, future Hall of Famer, and unanimously the best defensive player in the league—why give a 29-year-old Ward the most per-year money in NFL history?
Make it make sense!
Had the Browns kept Garrett and were aiming to lean on their defense for a chance to compete this year, extending Ward would have made far more sense. On the flip side, if Cleveland wanted to unload their roster and conduct a hard reset (who could blame them), then they should have traded Ward like they did Garrett.
The Browns don't have a respectable quarterback, and most of their offensive line recently left or retired. It's going to take several years to build this franchise up to even resemble a competitive team. By that time, Ward will be well into his 30s and either long past his prime or completely washed up.
When the Browns decided to trade Garrett, they made a choice about the direction of their future. Ironically, overpaying for an aging CB in Ward only runs counter to the team's master plan for a rebuild.
The Cleveland Browns are a truly lost organization with no sense of direction, and Pittsburgh Steelers fans can only laugh at their dysfunction.
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