Sunday Dawg Chow (6/30): A history lesson, placing blame, stadium talk and more!

The latest Cleveland Browns news and notes from around the NFL in the Sunday Dawg Chow.

Sometimes it feels like the calendar is crawling along, yet somehow this is the last day of June and the Fourth of July is just days away. Today brings Formula 1 back to the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix, two more knockout games in the Euro 2024 tournament, the Cleveland Guardians trying to salvage some pride in Kansas City, and all the latest news from Dawgs By Nature about the Cleveland Browns and the NFL.

Dawgs By Nature:

• How the AAFC Panthers became the Browns became the NFL Champion Browns (Barry Shuck) – The Cleveland Browns have captured eight pro football championships. This ranks as tied for third-most with the New York Football Giants behind the Green Bay Packers (13) and the Chicago Bears (9). But unlike those two teams, the Browns’ pro football history begins in 1945.
• Browns receivers share the blame with QBs for league-low completion percentage (Jared Mueller) – The Cleveland Browns 2023 NFL season was successful despite the play from the quarterbacks the entire season. The five starting quarterbacks combined to complete just 56.9% of their passes last season.
• Browns Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah’s 2023 season proved he’s 1 of 1 (Jared Mueller) – Sometimes luck is just a huge part of how things happen in professional sports. That is probably true for many of us in our personal lives as well. Good luck. Bad luck. Luck is quite random.
• Is there an alternate downtown site for a new stadium for the Browns? (Thomas Moore) – New report says that the City of Cleveland may offer up Burke Lakefront Airport to keep the Cleveland Browns downtown.
• Amari Cooper ‘most unappreciated WR,’ ‘they need to pay that man’ according to top DB (Jared Mueller) – Darius Slay weighs in on Browns top receiver and his contract rumors.
• AFC North depth chart rankings: Defensive backs (Curtiss Brown) – The Cleveland Browns lead the way with a talented, deep group of defensive backs.

Cleveland Browns/NFL:

• Browns safety Rodney McLeod is taking one last lap before calling it a career (The Athletic $$$) – The leader of the group with a tinge of gray in his mustache and a new number on his chest always sits up front in the Cleveland Browns’ safeties meetings. He often stands up front, too, relaying assignments, counter moves and general life wisdom to his younger teammates. Those younger teammates love Rodney McLeod Jr. Because they love him, they mock him a little bit, too, calling him Grandpa and reminding McLeod that some of them watched as middle schoolers when he was playing for the Rams.
• Cleveland Hopkins airport director worries about traffic snarls if Browns relocate to Brook Park (cleveland.com) – During busy travel periods, traffic regularly backs up on Ohio 237, as Northeast Ohio travelers queue up to access the airport. Add to that as many as 70,000 football fans every other Sunday in the fall. It’s a scenario that worries Bryant Francis, director of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
• Eyes of the Guru IDP Info, Part 10: Cleveland Browns (footballguys.com) – For the second straight season, the Browns’ pass defense was spectacular, while the run defense was less than. Cleveland did not dump a ton of capital on the defensive side this offseason but at least the moves they made look like upgrades. Their two biggest needs were up the middle at tackle and linebacker. Both of those positions were addressed and, at least on paper, improved.
• How Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald plans to unlock Dre’Mont Jones (ESPN) – Over the first half of 2023, Dre’Mont Jones was almost exclusively a defensive tackle, lining up inside on the vast majority of his snaps. Over the second half, he was predominantly a defensive end. And by the time his first season with the Seattle Seahawks was in the books, Jones was something of an enigma, a highly talented player whose impact didn’t quite match up with the hype that accompanied his arrival as one of the biggest free agent acquisitions in franchise history. Enter Mike Macdonald.
• JaMarcus Russell out as Williamson assistant; former NFL QB sued over $74k donation intended for alma mater (wkrg.com) – Former NFL No. 1 overall draft pick and LSU standout quarterback JaMarcus Russell is facing a lawsuit over a $74,000 check written as a donation for the football program at his alma mater, Williamson High School.
• Brandon Aiyuk still believes it’s likely he’s in a ‘Niners uniform’ in 2024 despite stalled contract talks (nfl.com) – A lot of noise has been made recently over Brandon Aiyuk’s future with the San Francisco 49ers, with the wide receiver himself occasionally publicly discussing his unhappiness with the lack of progress in contract talks with the team. Nevertheless, speaking on The Pivot podcast earlier this week, Aiyuk indicated that even with where things stand right now, he still believes he’ll be wearing red and gold this fall, even as he discussed his options should things not work out.