November 1, 2026
November 1, 2026
Cleveland Browns 2025 Season: Garrett’s Record Year Amid a Rebuild
The Browns’ 2025 season ended with a 5-12 record and a last-place finish in the AFC North, yet it delivered moments that will outlast the standings. Myles Garrett rewrote the NFL record book. A remarkable rookie class announced itself. And a head coach’s six-year tenure came to a close. For a franchise searching for an identity, the year was painful, historic, and revealing all at once.
Cleveland entered the year carrying the weight of a 3-14 collapse. Deshaun Watson opened the season on the physically unable to perform list after Achilles surgery, leaving the quarterback room in flux. General manager Andrew Berry signed veteran Joe Flacco and acquired Kenny Pickett from Philadelphia, though Pickett was traded to Las Vegas before the opener.
The most important offseason moment came in March. Garrett had requested a trade, but the Browns instead signed him to a contract extension that kept the franchise’s best player in Cleveland. That decision would define the year. Garrett responded with the most dominant pass-rushing campaign the league had ever seen.
The draft then reshaped the roster. Berry traded the No. 2 overall pick to Jacksonville, landing defensive tackle Mason Graham at No. 5, running back Quinshon Judkins in the second round, and a 2026 first-round pick. Linebacker Carson Schwesinger, tight end Harold Fannin Jr., and quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders followed.
The opener set a cruel tone. Cleveland trailed Cincinnati by a single point late and could not finish, falling 17-16. A 41-17 blowout in Baltimore followed a week later.
Then came the afternoon that briefly rekindled belief. Green Bay lined up for a field goal in the final minute, only for Shelby Harris to block it. The offense crept into range, and kicker Andre Szmyt drilled a 55-yard field goal as time expired. The 13-10 win over the Packers proved the defense could carry this team on its back.
That belief unraveled quickly. A 34-10 loss in Detroit ended Flacco’s run as the starter. Stefanski handed the job to Gabriel for a Week 5 game against Minnesota in London, which slipped away 21-17. The loss was the club’s 10th straight game scoring 17 points or fewer, a franchise record at the time.
Flacco was traded to Cincinnati days later. Gabriel’s starts brought a dominant 31-6 win over Miami, powered by three Judkins touchdowns, but losses in Pittsburgh, New England, and New York piled up. By mid-November, the Browns sat at 2-8.
No matter how badly the offense sputtered, the defense refused to fold. Garrett was the engine. In a 32-13 loss at New England, he sacked Drake Maye five times, a Browns single-game record. The performance captured the season in miniature: one man dominating while the scoreboard told another story.
The unit around him was relentless. Cleveland finished fourth in total defense and third against the pass, allowing just 167.2 passing yards per game. The Browns set a franchise record with 53 sacks and led the league with 117 tackles for loss. In a November win in Las Vegas, the pass rush piled up 10 sacks.
Schwesinger was the revelation in the middle. The former UCLA walk-on led all NFL rookies in tackles and added two interceptions, 2.5 sacks, and 11 tackles for loss. He played nearly every defensive snap, a rare workload for a first-year linebacker. Graham, meanwhile, gave the interior line a young disruptor to build around for years.
The turn came out of necessity. Gabriel suffered a concussion against Baltimore in Week 11, and Sanders entered in relief. His first appearance was rough, but Stefanski named him the starter for a trip to Las Vegas.
What happened next carried weight far beyond one game. Sanders guided a 24-10 win over the Raiders, becoming the first Browns rookie quarterback to win his debut start since 1995. The victory also snapped a 17-game losing streak for Cleveland rookie quarterbacks in their first starts. For a fanbase that had watched so many young passers stumble, it felt like a door opening.
The month that followed tested that hope. A 26-8 loss to San Francisco exposed how far the offense still had to go. Against Tennessee, Sanders threw for 364 yards and three touchdowns while adding another on the ground. Cleveland still fell 31-29, two points short of a statement win.
A 31-3 defeat in Chicago was a low point. The Browns then pushed Buffalo to the final minutes before losing 23-20, but the cost was steep. Judkins dislocated his ankle and broke his fibula, ending a rookie year that produced 827 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.
The Browns’ 2025 season will be remembered as much for its newcomers as for its record. Fannin broke the franchise rookie receptions mark against Buffalo and finished with 72 catches for 731 yards and seven total touchdowns. He became a reliable target for every quarterback who lined up behind center.
The broader numbers were historic. According to the NFL’s Week 18 stats and records review, Cleveland became the only team since the 1970 merger to have rookies lead it in passing yards, rushing yards, receiving yards, and tackles in the same season. That single fact reframed a losing year as the start of something.
The final two weeks offered something rare: pride. Eliminated from playoff contention weeks earlier, the Browns hosted Pittsburgh and held the Steelers without a touchdown. The 13-6 win was a defensive clinic and a reminder that this group still had plenty left to prove.
The finale delivered the defining afternoon of the year. Devin Bush returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown, and Sam Webb scooped a fumble for a 47-yard score. With 5:14 left, Garrett broke through and dropped Joe Burrow for his 23rd sack. That play broke the NFL single-season record of 22.5 shared by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt.
Cincinnati answered with a late Ja’Marr Chase touchdown to go ahead 18-17. Grant Delpit broke up the two-point try, keeping the margin at one. Sanders then moved the offense into range, and Szmyt hit a 49-yard field goal as time expired. The game recap from the Browns captured a 20-18 win that felt bigger than its place in the standings. Szmyt finished the year by making his final 14 field goal attempts.
The hardware arrived weeks later. Garrett was the unanimous choice as AP Defensive Player of the Year, the second such award of his career. Schwesinger was named AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, making them the first teammates to sweep both honors since Baltimore’s Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs in 2003. Garrett and Denzel Ward also earned Pro Bowl selections.
The Browns’ 2025 season also closed an era. Stefanski was fired on January 5, 2026, after six seasons, two playoff trips, and two Coach of the Year awards. Cleveland hired former Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken weeks later. Months after that, Garrett was traded to the Los Angeles Rams, making his record-breaking year his final chapter in Cleveland.
The full 2025 Browns statistics at Pro Football Reference show a team that lost far more than it won. Yet the year handed Cleveland a foundation of young talent, a defensive identity, and one of the greatest individual seasons the sport has seen. That is what the fanbase will carry forward.
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