Cleveland Browns ceiling and floor for 2023

The Cleveland Browns had a much quieter offseason off the field this year compared to last when Deshaun Watson dominated the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Now the team's hoping Watson can finally return to form in 2023. 

With the conclusion of training camp and preseason, here's the Browns' ceiling and floor heading into Week 1.

Ceiling: 12-5

Cleveland had another offseason to remember, this time for good reasons. The team traded its 2023 second-round pick to the Jets for WR Elijah Moore and drafted WR Cedric Tillman in the third round. Both players should play a role in helping Watson return to his 2020 level of play when he led the league in passing with 4,823 yards.

The Browns also added DE Za'Darius Smith, DT Dalvin Tomlinson, DE Ogbo Okoronkwo and safety Juan Thornhill to bolster their defense. Cleveland didn't have a player outside of DE Myles Garrett surpass three sacks in 2022. If the revamped unit plays the way many believe it will, that won't be the case in 2023, especially because their schedule, ranked the 26th-most difficult in the NFL, is the easiest in the AFC North. 

The team has looked, on paper, as competitive as anyone for the past couple of years. It's now or never for head coach Kevin Stefanski and the Browns.

Floor: 7-10

There's a strong argument that Cleveland is still the worst team in the AFC North after Watson underwhelmed in his return from suspension a year ago (3-3 record, 58.2 completion percentage). The soon-to-be 28-year-old quarterback must return to form this year or the Browns will find themselves with the same losing record they had in 2022.

Watson, who didn't play at all in 2021, has played only six games since the 2020 season. He has, by far, more to prove than any other Brown in 2023.

Cleveland might look stout on both sides of the ball, but its special teams issues could become a problem. The team had to part ways with kicker Cade York, its 2022 fourth-round pick, after he missed a field goal in every game of the preseason. The Browns responded by trading for Chargers' Dustin Hopkins, who lost his job to Cameron Dicker. If he can't help them win close games, add a couple more tallies to the loss column.