CLEVELAND, Ohio — Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh carried a little more meaning for Browns left guard Joel Bitonio. He hasn’t decided on his future yet, whether he’ll retire or return for a 13th season.

He knew, just in case, to soak it all in.

“The drive in, you’re by yourself, it’s a lonely drive in, you see the stadium, it crosses your mind it’s a possibility,” he said. “So, you think about it. I just gave myself a minute to think about it. Then I’m like, ‘Alright. I’ve got a game to play. So we’ll figure that part out later on.’”

If it was Bitonio’s last game at his home stadium, you won’t hear him complaining about a win.

“Beating the Steelers at home to make them keep fighting for the playoffs,” Bitonio said. “In our situation, probably best-case scenario. Obviously wish we had more wins throughout the year, but division rival, every game’s going to be tough to get the win.”

No, Bitonio couldn’t care less about where the Browns are drafting this April.

“I do not blame the fans for thinking about the future and everything like that,” he said. “But as players in this locker room, every time you go on the field, it’s a resume, and this is a real sport. This is the NFL. You’ve got to put your best foot forward when you go out there and you’ve got to compete.”

Defensive tackle Shelby Harris, another veteran who also made one of the game’s biggest plays, wasn’t interested in hearing about draft position.

“If you are an athlete, you would never ask another athlete that type of question,” Harris said. “Because we go out there and compete every chance we get and it’s not in our blood to lay down and just be like, oh, you know, get a better draft pick. No, I’m out there fighting.”

The Browns guaranteed with this win on Sunday that they won’t have the No. 1 pick in April’s NFL Draft. They might not have had a realistic shot at it to begin with, given the hopeless display put on the Raiders every week, but they were guaranteed to move up had they lost to the Steelers. The Raiders and Giants, the two teams ahead of them in draft positioning going into Sunday’s games, played Sunday. The Giants won, 34-10.

Edge rusher Myles Garrett is heavily invested in the long-term future of the Browns. He requested a trade in February before signing back up on four-year, $160 million extension. He’s not pounding the table for draft positioning.

“No one signed up to lose. No one signed up to lose at all,” he said. “So I don’t care what the situation is with the record. Not a single one of us want to line up and lay down to a team or a man that’s in front of us.”

Defensive end Alex Wright, who had a sack on Sunday, couldn’t care less, either.

“I don’t care about draft picks. I care about making plays. We care about making plays,” he said. “I don’t know who in here thinks about draft picks. Me personally, I can’t speak for nobody, but I don’t give a (expletive).”

This could mark the second year in a row the Browns didn’t land at the top of the draft due to a win over Pittsburgh. Their snow globe victory last season was their only win in their last nine games and allowed the Titans to pick first and select quarterback Cam Ward.

The Browns play in Cincinnati next week against a Bengals team that has also been eliminated for weeks. It’s not out of the question they could win again, though they haven’t beaten the Bengals since their opening-week game in 2023.

The only reason this is even a discussion goes back to the Browns’ most pressing need since they returned in 1999: quarterback.

Finding one is hard. The best way is usually to draft one. This year’s quarterback class, once thought to be a strong one, may end up being a two-quarterback class. If Oregon’s Dante Moore goes back to school, it could be a class with one clear top pick, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza.

The Browns currently sit at No. 6 according to Tankathon. They could still get the No. 2 overall pick depending on Week 18 outcomes, but it would take some upsets.

While the top of the draft won’t be littered with teams needing a quarterback, the Raiders would most certainly take one if they land at No. 1 overall. The Jets are also ahead of the Browns now and even the Cardinals, currently ahead of the Browns, could be in the market to draft one.

Shedeur Sanders has shown some promise in his rookie season, but no one can realistically leave this season believing for certain that he’s the answer.

So just lose and get a quarterback, right? NBA teams openly tank for superstars all the time.

The NFL isn’t like the NBA. Teams can try to tank via roster construction — just look at the 1-31 Browns in 2016 and 2017. But players aren’t wired to play along.

“It is me versus them, it’s one-on-one, it’s man-versus-man,” Harris said. “And if I sat there and caved, how’s that going to look on me? Because that means I’m letting him push me back. I’m letting him manhandle me. And that’s just not going to happen.”

Bitonio and Harris have learned to never take a win for granted.

“Man, it’s so hard to win in this league, and every win matters,” Harris said. “And you got to appreciate every win.”

Bitonio has spent his career navigating losing, so he’s not going to worry about what a win might mean long-term.

“Unfortunately, I’ve had too many losses in my career where the wins are so sweet and every time you get one, I cherish it,” he said.

The NFL is a league where long-term interests constantly clash with the game’s short-term nature. So the Browns beat the Steelers on Sunday and now they might have to get a little more creative in trying to solve their long-standing quarterback problem.

It’s worth noting that only one of the last nine Super Bowl winners have had a No. 1 pick at quarterback.

The Browns are still well-positioned to use this next draft to infuse this roster with much-needed young talent. It might be a little harder to find their quarterback, but teams who aspire to greatness find a way.