Deshaun Watson had to sit out the 2021 campaign because of criminal sexual assault allegations. Yet there were no objections from anyone regarding his move to the Browns. In this era of increased sexual assault scrutiny, the silence was deafening. Concurrently, Watson is no longer facing criminal charges. But he faces numerous civil suits that are making bad headlines. News reports show that Watson could be in big trouble. So is Cleveland with the NFL betting odds. Meanwhile, former starter Baker Mayfield wants out of Dodge today. Ironically the Browns and Mayfield could be stuck with each other.
Cleveland Browns 2022 Future Market Analysis
| Prop | Odds |
|---|---|
| To win the Super Bowl | +2040 |
| To win the AFC | +900 |
| To win the AFC East | +200 |
| Over-Under Win Total | TBD |
A Proud Old Tradition That is Fading
The Cleveland Browns are one of the legacies online wagering NFL franchises. Yet the Browns have a complex history that is part of that DNA. The original Browns were founded by the late great Paul Brown in the All-America Football Conference. Cleveland won all four of its championships in the AAFC before merging into the NFL. In their first NFL season, the Browns won the championship. Subsequently, Cleveland played in the NFL championship game for the next five years, winning twice.
But in the early 1960s, the club grew stale under Paul Brown. And in 1962, Brown was fired by new owner Art Modell. Following the 1964 NFL championship, the Browns were a perennial contender for most of the next three decades. However, they never made the Super Bowl after the 1966 AFL-NFL merger.
In 1995, Modell moved the original Browns to Baltimore to become the Ravens. The second iteration of the Browns was born in 1999 as a Pro football betting odds
expansion team. Cleveland has a passionate fan base and has been plagued by incompetent ownership and consistent losing. Since their return to the NFL, the Browns have only two playoff appearances.
Dark Storm Clouds Over 2022
Last year the Jimmy Haslem circus returned to Cleveland after going dark in 2020. In that 2020 campaign, the Browns ended an 18-year playoff drought. Also, they won a wild-card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. A new era of expectations emerged with a promising young team. But in 2022, the Browns fell back to old ways with an 8-9 season.
There were concerns about the Browns being undermined by owner Jimmy Haslem. Cause by Haslem’s record of ineptitude as the owner being among the worst in any professional sport. Thus, his track record of being a wrecking ball caused well-founded worries. And in 2020, those worries came to fruition.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield caused his own set of concerns. To illuminate, Mayfield has always been an immature quarterback. After a strong 2020 campaign, the former Oklahoma Sooners Heisman Trophy winner back-slid in 2021. In fact, it was so bad that the Browns did the unthinkable. Cleveland traded a host of first-round and other high draft picks to the Houston Texans for Deshaun Watson. Accordingly, that trade is now a ticking bomb.
In a home game, the Browns will make a week three Prime Video appearance against the Pittsburgh Steelers. And then Cleveland gets an ESPN Monday Night Football home date against the Cincinnati Bengals in week eight.