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Cleveland Browns guard Joel Bitonio not retiring, will return for 2025 NFL season
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- Cleveland Browns guard Joel Bitonio not retiring, will return for 2025 NFL season
Joel Bitonio has seen a lot playing left guard for the Cleveland Browns for more than a decade. Those go from the highs of two playoff appearances to the low of a winless season.
Few seasons were as — in Bitonio's own words — "frustrating" as the 3-14 season in the 11th year of his NFL career. That frustration, coupled by the wear and tear of more than 160 NFL games, left him at a crossroads when it ended in January.
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One way led to retirement, and the other to a 12th season. On Wednesday, the Browns announced the longest-tenured player on the team was coming back for the 2025 season, the final one of his current contract.
Bitonio spent the two months since the Browns season ended on Jan. 4 contemplating the path he would choose. That included conversations with his wife, Courtney, along with their two children, once they went back to their home in California.
"I wish, whatever it is, you think of John Elway going out and winning the Super Bowl, Andrew Whitworth ," Bitonio said on Jan. 1, before the season finale against the Baltimore Ravens . "They got to play in their last game in the Super Bowl and ride off into the sunset. That'd be the ultimate dream, and I bet if it had been two years ago and we won a Super Bowl, I probably would have been like, 'All right, I'm good to go.'
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"And so it's the thing that you fight for. So it's all part of it. It's all part of the process — the season, your teammates, winning and losing, how you feel. All of that goes into every decision you make."
Bitonio, 33, has been the model of consistency for the Browns, who selected him in the second round (35th overall) of the 2014 draft out of the University of Nevada. He's appeared in the last seven consecutive Pro Bowls, the fourth-longest streak by any Browns player, while being named to the Associated Press All-Pro first team twice, in 2021 and 2022, and to the second team three times.
In many ways, Bitonio took the mantle of Browns ironman from his mentor and former teammate, Pro Football Hall of Fame left tackle Joe Thomas. That same 2017 season in which Thomas — who played in 167 consecutive games — retired also was the start of Bitonio's own streak, playing in 102 consecutive regular-season games that ended in Week 5 of the 2023 season.
Bitonio's 161 career regular-season games ranks 13th all-time in Browns history, right behind Thomas. The two lined up next to each other for 38 of those, a number made smaller by a 2015 ankle injury (six games missed) and a 2016 Lisfranc surgery (11 games missed).
"Joe's end of career was tough because I think that was the low point of our rebuild," Bitonio told the Beacon Journal in exclusive interview last Aug. 20. "The 1-15, 0-16. He knew it. I think he knew he had been around long enough when we started trading every vet that we had, and he was kind of falling behind there. I feel like we knew that we were trying to rebuild that for that. And, honestly, like me, I learned a lot like, Hey, I don't want to go through that. I want to be competitive."
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The irony in Bitonio's own ironman streak is that, while Bitonio has been able to play on two playoff teams, he did miss the only playoff win. A COVID diagnosis forced him to miss the January 2021 wild card win at the Pittsburgh Steelers , although he returned for the ensuing week's divisional loss at the Kansas City Chiefs .
Those two playoff appearances — two more than Thomas had during his own 11-year career — certainly made the Browns more competitive for stretches. However, the way they followed up the second playoff trip in 2023 with 2024's disaster added a layer to the decision Bitonio was forced to contemplate.
Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb (24) scores a touchdown as guard Joel Bitonio (75) blocks Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen (6) on Nov. 21, 2024, in Cleveland.
"I think the expectations this year and then where we ended up have made it the most frustrating," Bitonio said on Jan. 1. "Early in my career, I didn't really know any better my first couple years. And then when we were in the real rebuild, we were such a young team that it wasn't even, like, there wasn't expectations to make the playoffs or do anything like that. We thought we could. We were so young, you don't know any better. But I think with what the expectations were this year, it's probably been the most frustrating results-wise."
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The results have been coupled with more and more injuries that, if they didn't sideline Bitonio, at least have put his availability into question. Two seasons ago, he had to leave a Week 15 win over the Chicago Bears because of back spasms, an issue that lingered well into last season.
Bitonio was listed as questionable for December games against both the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins last season because of back issues. He managed to not just play in both games, but played every offensive snap as well.
"That makes it a little difficult, too, because I still feel like I can play in this league, it's just the burden of playing in this league is tough," Bitonio said Jan. 5, a day after the season ended. "As an offensive lineman, you have to be fully committed. You don't get to play — no offense to D-linemen, but [ Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle] Brandon Graham 's playing his 200th game and he plays like 24 snaps, you know what I mean? You're playing 55 to 85 snaps every game. I think I got close to 1,200 snaps this year on offense, and that's a big commitment, and then the practices and stuff like that."
The only game Bitonio missed since his regular-season streak ended in Week 5 of 2023 against the San Francisco 49ers because of an arthroscopic knee surgery was the finale at the Bengals that same season. That was a decision by Browns coach Kevin Stefanski to rest most of his starters to prepare for the next week's wild card game at the Houston Texans .
Cleveland Browns place kicker Dustin Hopkins (7), punter Corey Bojorquez (13) and guard Joel Bitonio (75) celebrate after a field goal against the Dallas Cowboys Sept. 8, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Since 2017, Bitonio has played 100% of the offensive snaps in all but five games in which he's appeared. He played 97.1% of them in a 2019 Week 3 win over the New York Jets , 98.7% in a 2020 Week 5 win at the Dallas Cowboys , 15.9% in the previously mentioned 2023 Week 15 win over the Bears, 92.7% in a 2023 Week 16 win over the Texans and 95.9% in a Week 11 loss to the New Orleans Saints last season.
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Bitonio also played just 85% of the snaps in a wild card loss to the Texans in January 2024. He left the game with a high ankle sprain, but did come back to finish the game out.
Those were the bumps and bruises, aches and pains Bitonio has been weighing in coming to his decision.
"There's some games where you wake up Monday morning and I'm like, 'Crap, why am I doing this?' You lost, you feel terrible, your body hurts," he said. "And then there's other times where it's like, you play a game, and you're like, I can still play at a high level and I want to see what our team can do in the future.
"So, yeah, that's why you want to take a chance, take a breath, see where you're at, talk to people and really get an understanding of what the future looks like."
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Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Joel Bitonio makes decision on his Browns future
