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Daniel Oyefusi
BEREA, Ohio — Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski will reassume playcalling duties next season after relinquishing it midway through 2024.
Stefanski made the announcement Thursday as he introduced Tommy Rees as the team’s new offensive coordinator.
“I’m going to call plays, and I reserve the right to change my mind,” Stefanski said.
Stefanski, a two-time NFL Coach of the Year, called plays during his first four seasons as the Browns coach. He gave up the playcalling duties to Ken Dorsey amid a 1-6 start to the season and days after quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending right Achilles tendon tear.
Rees, who served as Cleveland’s tight ends coach and pass game specialist in 2024, will be tasked with helping rebuild a scheme that was configured to bring Watson back to Pro Bowl form but failed. Cleveland ranked 28th in total offense and 32nd in scoring this season. Watson had the lowest Total QBR in the NFL before he sustained a season-ending injury for the second straight year.
Watson underwent surgery earlier in the month after re-tearing his Achilles and will likely miss a significant portion of the 2025 season. Watson, who has played in 19 games since Cleveland traded three first-round picks for him, has two years remaining on the five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million deal he signed before the 2022 season. The Browns owe Watson $46 million in each of the next two seasons, and he has cap hits of $72.9 million in 2025 and 2026, the second highest in the NFL.
Cleveland is expected to add multiple quarterbacks this offseason and will look at options in free agency and the draft, where the team holds the No. 2 overall pick.
Rees declined to comment on former Alabama quarterback and draft prospect Jalen Milroe, whom he coached during the 2023 season as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Asked what attribute he wants in the Browns’ next quarterback, Rees said, “I’ve always started with the ability to make decisions and make the right decisions. … I want a decision-maker at the position.”
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