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Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam on the stadium issue, extensions and Deshaun Watson
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- Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam on the stadium issue, extensions and Deshaun Watson
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam held their annual training camp media availability on Saturday afternoon at The Greenbrier.
The subject of the stadium issue was one of the major topics of conversation , but far from the only one. The extensions for general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski, quarterback Deshaun Watson , expectations for the season and even why Seattle for the final preseason game also were touched upon during the 20-minute conversation.
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Here are some immediate quick hits on what the Haslams had to say in what was their first availability since the NFL Owners Meetings in March.
Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, left and center, watch practice with executive vice president J.W. Johnson, right, during minicamp, Thursday, June 13, 2024, in Berea.
Stadium issue 'complicated,' but no immediate resolution
The Browns' lease with the City of Cleveland expires at the end of the 2028 season. There's been much discussion of two different plans: renovate the current Cleveland Browns Stadium or build a domed stadium on a plot of land near the airport in Brook Park.
The Haslams were asked if they were any closer to a resolution on which direction they're officially going to choose.
"I think we said the last time we talked to you all, this is a big project, OK," Jimmy Haslam said. "No matter which direction we go into, it's complicated. Anytime you have a public-private partnership, it's not easy. We're continuing to work through the process and we hope sooner rather than later we'll have a solution. But I can assure you, we were on the phone for an hour this morning talking about various things that have to be solved, and one solution or the other. We'll continue to do so until we get to what we think the right answer."
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More on Browns stadium situation: Browns owner Jimmy Haslam on stadium: 'The right answer is what is best for our fans'
Jimmy Haslam said right stadium answer is 'what is best for our fans'
The Haslams would appear to be in favor of building a new stadium in Brook Park. However, they've avoided outright saying that out loud in as many words.
This is what they said about the "right answer" is to the question?
"If you ask what's the right answer, the right answer is what is best for our fans, OK," Jimmy Haslam said. "That is driving 90% of the decision making, what's best for our fans. These are long-, long-term decisions. This isn't a five-year decision, a 10-year decision, it's at least a 20-year decision, maybe more. So what is best for our fans will ultimately drive what we do."
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Is stadium issue getting 'more or less complicated?'
The renovations of a new stadium would cost roughly a billion dollars. A new stadium would cost more than twice that cost.
Is the cost making the stadium issue more complicatred?
"If we go to Brook Park, and I'm not saying we are, that's a $2.4 billion project plus the real estate development around it, which make about ($3.5 billion), that would be the third or fourth largest construction project ever done in Ohio," Jimmy Haslam said. "If we remodel our existing stadium and spend a billion dollars, that's more than Sherwin Williams is spending on their downtown office building. So just the complexity of these, getting the design right, the cost right, making sure you can finance it, how much equity it's going to take. Working with city, county and state just takes time and everybody is working hard on it."
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Will the stadium require a ballot initiative?
To build the Gateway complex in the early 1990s, it required the passage of a sin tax in Cuyahoga County. The Haslams were asked if any kind of ballot-box initiative would be required in order to help fund any kind of stadium project.
"It's an understanding," Jimmy Haslam said "We do not."
Is there a deadline for getting a stadium plan underway?
So is there a drop-dead date for getting one plan or the other started?
"Yeah, I guess, our lease runs out in '28, so I guess you could say that's driving it and that's providing a sense of urgency," I just don't want to say Oct. 1 or (Jan.) 1 or March 1, because it would be disingenuous because we really don't know. I can assure you the intensity on all sides of coming up the solution is extremely high."
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Extensions for general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski
The Haslams gave out extensions for both general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski in June. They become the first GM or head coach to receive extensions from the current team ownership, which took over in 2012.
"Well, they're just really great men, first of all, and really good leaders," Dee Haslam said. "I think the players really respect them and the entire staff works really well with them. They know how to get everybody to come together with the same goals, but it really does make a difference to have that kind of leadership on your team."
The Haslams did say an extension would eventually be coming for Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta. He wasn't extended at the same time as Berry and Stefanski.
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Deshaun Watson in Year 3 with Cleveland Browns
The Haslams were asked about quarterback Deshaun Watson, whom they gave a fully-guaranteed five-year, $230-million contract after acquiring him in a 2022 trade with the Houston Texans . Watson has started 12 combined games in two season, losing 11 games in 2022 to a personal conduct policy suspension due to more than two dozen sexual assault and sexual misconduct allegations from women after massage appointments.
Watson lost another 11 games last season due to shoulder injuries. That included season-ending shoulder surgery in November that cost him the final seven regular-season and one playoff game.
"I mean I think for what you can see as well, he is really comfortable and really confident," Dee Haslam said. "I think that has made a big difference this year immediately coming out comfortable and confident."
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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: Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam: What they said at training camp
