{"id":385257,"date":"2026-01-03T10:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T10:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/385257\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T10:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T10:18:08","slug":"potential-trade-of-browns-kevin-stefanski-has-smoke-insider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/385257\/","title":{"rendered":"Potential trade of Browns’ Kevin Stefanski has ‘smoke’: insider"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trading a head coach in the NFL is rare \u2014 but it could happen this offseason.<\/p>\n

Sports Illustrated NFL insider Conor Orr reported the Browns could potentially trade head coach Kevin Stefanski, saying that a deal is gaining traction around the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeaking of the Browns,\u201d Orr wrote<\/a>, \u201cthere was some league-wide chatter about the potential of a Kevin Stefanski trade \u2014 \u2018smoke,\u2019 as one industry source put it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ClevelandCleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski speaks during a news conference after an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Cleveland. AP<\/p>\n

Although the logistics of trading a head coach are extremely difficult, as Orr noted in his report, it is not impossible, with instances occurring several times throughout NFL history, most recently with the Broncos sending the Saints and first-round and second-round picks for Sean Payton in 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Jets have been involved in multiple coaching trades, with the team dealing four picks to the Patriots for Bill Parcells in 1997, along with trading Bill Belichick back to New England in 2000 in exchange for three draft selections.<\/p>\n

According to Orr, however, the Browns\u2019 trading Stefanski \u201cdidn\u2019t feel imminent or even expected,\u201d as of Friday.<\/p>\n

Stefanski, who has been at the helm for the Browns for nearly six seasons, has led the team to two postseason appearances in 2020 and \u201923, winning the NFL Coach of the Year award for those seasons.<\/p>\n

The past two seasons in Cleveland have been rough for Stefanski, however, with the Browns having a 3-14 record \u2014 which was tied for league-worst \u2014 in 2024, and are headed into Week 18 with a 4-12 record this season.<\/p>\n

Amid the rumors surrounding Stefanski\u2019s future, multiple Browns players have weighed in on their head coach, with rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders saying that the team does not listen to the \u201coutside noise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ClevelandCleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski talks with quarterback Shedeur Sanders, left, during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Cleveland. AP<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we listen to the external stuff. He\u2019s our coach,\u201d Sanders, 23, told reporters Wednesday<\/a>. \u201cWe view him as the same as we view him the first week. You know, we got the utmost respect for him. And yeah, I think that\u2019s more media stuff, that\u2019s more outside noise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four-time All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett was a little more blunt about the situation, saying that he wants the team to be successful, no matter who he is playing under.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want\u00a0things to be successful, however that looks,\u201d Garrett told reporters on Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m committed to winning,\u201d Garrett added. \u201cAs long as the team and organization are doing so and committed to that same thing, I\u2019m all on board. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re thinking anything other than winning \u2014 tanking or rebuilding \u2014 that\u2019s not me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trading a head coach in the NFL is rare \u2014 but it could happen this offseason. Sports Illustrated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[1799,28649,14383,349,8394,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-385257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-cleveland-browns","9":"tag-kevin-stefanski","10":"tag-myles-garrett","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-shedeur-sanders","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}