The Pittsburgh Steelers will face their division rival in the Cleveland Browns Sunday. Leading up to the game, the Browns have made a few notable moves. First, they traded Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals. Then, they made a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the teams swapping corners Greg Newsome II and Tyson Campbell. The Browns also didn’t immediately name rookie Shedeur Sanders as their backup quarterback, although they have now. That left former Steelers and Browns corner Joe Haden all but shaking his head.
“I don’t know what to say,” Haden said Friday on his Deebo and Joe podcast. “[The Browns] obviously don’t know what they’re doing. It’s just all bad moves. It’s bad business. It’s the way you treat people. The Steelers, they do a better job. Kenny Pickett, they picked a first-round draft pick, they knew [they] messed up. They were able to move on.
“They’re grown. They can make decisions and move on and be able to take accountability. You’ve got to be able to take accountability when you make a bad move and move on and grow up and the make better moves going forward. Move like a business.”
It’s important to note that Haden’s comments came before the Browns named Sanders their backup quarterback. However, his point still stands. Cleveland created unnecessary drama when it did not immediately name Sanders QB2. He’s the only other healthy quarterback on the Browns’ 53-man roster. They would’ve had to add someone else in order to keep Sanders as their number three.
It was a confusing move all around, especially with the Browns ultimately going with Sanders as their backup. Not that the Steelers have always made the best decisions either. Take how they initially handled Broderick Jones’ development for example. Rather than allow Jones, a raw rookie, to settle in at one position, the Steelers flipped him back and forth between positions.
That likely hurt Jones’ development. However, it’s inarguable that the Browns have made worse moves over the years than the Steelers. They’ve routinely been one of the worst teams in the league. When they have found success, too, like when they had quarterback Baker Mayfield, things have quickly collapsed.
Despite those chronic missteps, the Browns have still managed to split their series with the Steelers over the last three years. They’ve also won a playoff game more recently than the Steelers. For all the Browns’ faults, that can’t be taken away from them. With rookie Dillon Gabriel starting, we’ll see if they can beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh for the first time since 2003.
