Jerry Jeudy #3 of the Cleveland Browns

It is probably not the soundest of plans, if the Cleveland Browns truly expect to improve in 2026, to make part of your strategy simply hoping that past disasters can be swept up, polished and repurposed as useful contributors. But, it seems, that is just where the Browns are these days. They’re certainly trying to polish up the nub that is Deshaun Watson these days, presenting him again to the team’s public as a potential starter at quarterback. And, it turns out, they’re doing the same with Jerry Jeudy, the star receiver who went utterly off the rails in 2025.

It is likely wishful thinking, simply hoping that the team could somehow coax the 2024 Pro Bowl version of Jeudy out of the same player who gave us the miserable, drop-heavy 2025 version of Jeudy who was graded with a 58.5 mark by Pro Football Focus, ranking him No. 98 out of 128 receivers in the NFL. But the Browns think the old Jeudy is still in there.

What choice do they have, really? At this point, the Browns can’t get rid of Jeudy, not in the midst of a three-year, $52 million contract, not even after he slumped to 602 yards receiving after a career-best 1,229 yards in 2024. So the best bet for the Browns is to cross their collective fingers and hope for the best, which appears to be the strategy for the offense as a whole.

Browns Will Get ‘The Jerry Jeudy of 2 Years Ago’

New Browns coach Todd Monken was asked last week about his view on the team’s offense and what could be different from last year (when the Browns offense was the worst in the NFL) compared with this year.

Monken, speaking with ESPN’s Kevin Clark,  said he expect one difference to be that the Browns’ offense will get something out of Jeudy.

Said Monken: “I think we are going to be able to get Jerry Jeudy back to two years ago. That’s not a leap. But that’s a re-leap—is that a word? But I think we’re going to be able to do that.”

He’d better hope so. The Browns got just 50 catches out of Jeudy, but that was still the most among the team’s receivers. The entire six-man group registered 117 catches, which was worse than Puka Nacua, as one man, of the Rams.

QBs Are the Big Issue

To be fair to Jeudy, the Browns offense in general was terrible in 2025, and Monken’s goal is to just get the team to be presentable on that side of the ball. Monken said one of the big leaps should be found among the guys getting Jeudy the ball–the quarterbacks, Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson.

Said Monken: “Obviously, Shedeur, Deshaun – the quarterback position, if there’s not a huge leap to be had there? I mean, shoot, Deshaun is healthy again, Shedeur and Dillon are one-year players. There will be unbelievable growth in that room, I am excited to get started with those guys.

“I think you see playmaking ability. I think you see a player who is confident in his skillset. When you see that, playmaking ability and inner confidence, you say, OK there is something to work with there. That’s the thing that excites you. I said this morning, 15 or 20 years ago, they would have said that Shedeur Sanders is athletic. They would have said he could escape. But the game has changed so much that now they say he is not a mobile quarterback.”