Well, yesterday was uneventful – at least from the perspective of the Cleveland Browns roster. The team dealt away Za’Darius Smith to the Detroit Lions, a long-anticipated deal that netted the Browns only a fifth-round pick this year and a sixth-round pick next year. The Browns tossed in a seventh-round pick in 2026 to even things up. Yawn. The team also did DT Quinton Jefferson a solid by releasing him before the trade deadline, allowing him to pick a team via free agency rather than going to waivers.

That was it, which was undoubtedly frustrating to a group of Browns fans looking for more significant changes to be made as soon as possible as they reel from the disappointment of the team’s 2-7 start to the season. This is not an insubstantial group.

And who can blame them? The Browns were pegged for a winning season by most prognosticators, with the playoffs being the expectation and a run in the playoffs being the ambition. The year has been hugely crushing emotionally and a colossal disappointment, with the Deshaun Watson gamble proving to be a complete failure to everyone other than one reporter and perhaps some still-delusionally hopeful holdouts in Berea. The weight of failure hangs heavy in the air and lights a fire for action in the hearts of many fans.

The season’s utter failure creates a sense of urgency for a strong response among this portion of the fan base that they bring to the forums and can fire up arguments among fans on the boards. Some fans feel very strongly about it, leading to rhetorical battles and personal grievances that we sometimes have put on time out.

There’s nothing wrong with feeling that the team has to “blow it up” if you can defend that point of view, as long as your defense is not that “anyone who disagrees with me is a moron.” We prefer facts and analysis on our message board threads. Plus, we may already be defined as morons because of our continuing dedication as Browns fans, so that’s sort of a self-incriminating argument that encompasses all of us.

At any rate, I’m undecided on the “blow it up” approach and, frankly, leaning against it. Among other things, I’m wondering who in their right mind would want to come in and take over this team as a GM or coach with the weight of the Deshaun Watson contract hanging over their head, restricting what they can do for at least the next two years. It’s not a good situation in Cleveland in the coming years, and it’s one that I suspect the premier candidates would avoid. Keep in mind the reputation that this franchise has across the league as a place where careers go to die.

Do we want to wind up with a Mike Pettine or Hue Jackson-level of coach replacing Kevin Stefanski? Or a Mike Lombardi retread or Ray Farmer replacing Andrew Berry? Geriatric Bill Belichick and Nick Sabans aren’t walking through that door with miraculous 1-year plans to save the franchise.

I can certainly understand and relate to fans reeling from massive disappointment and emotional letdown. Less explicable to me are the media members running to microphones and TV cameras, anxious to blast the organization and offer their take that it has to be blown up from top to bottom.

Look, I haven’t lived my life as a journalist – I come from the business world, where I’ve seen first-hand what it takes to build back up after some executive makes a knee-jerk reaction without thinking about the consequences. If blowing something up is Step One, then you better be able to tell me what Step Two is. I suspect that none of them can with any certainty. But, as noted above, I’m a moron: throwing raw meat to angry fans is a good move in the attention economy.

I guess I’m not in the raw meat business, so I stay mired in the “what makes sense” business. Just like I’m on “Team Spreadsheet” concerning the new stadium, I’m on “Team Show Me Step Two” with respect to blowing up the front office and coaching staff. I don’t trust Jimmy Haslam’s ability to improvise once we run the current inhabitants out of their offices with our torches and pitchforks.

If you’ve got a plan for Step Two that’s significantly better than where we are now, I’d love to hear it in the comments. Talk me down off the fence. But don’t tell me that anything is better than where we are now. I’ve seen a lot of iterations of anything from this Browns organization – and some of them were absolute nightmares. Things can get worse. I’ve seen it.

Have a good one! GO BROWNS!