On one hand, maybe it was wishful thinking, maybe it was a situation where the Cleveland Browns‘ new offensive coordinator, Travis Switzer, was simply hoping that the team could somehow coax the 2024 Pro Bowl version of Jerry Jeudy out of the same player who gave us the miserable, drop-heavy 2025 version of Jeudy who was graded with a 58.5 mark by Pro Football Focus, ranking him No. 98 out of 128 receivers in the NFL.
At this point, the Browns can’t get rid of Jeudy, not in the midst of a three-year, $52 million contract, not even after he slumped to 602 yards receiving after a career-best 1,229 yards in 2024.
So perhaps the plan is to see what can be wrung from Jeudy, what the Browns still might get from a player who will be on the roster in 2026 no matter what. In his introductory press conference for Browns media on Wednesday, then, Switzer tried to put the best possible face on the situation with Jeudy and a decidedly deficient Browns receiver room.
Browns See Jerry Jeudy as ‘Very Talented Player’
The Browns remain hopeful that 2025 was the anomaly for Jeudy. Switzer is among those who is charged with decoding the mystery that was Jeudy’s rapid decline–and compared it to the Browns’ situation with Deshaun Watson, a former star whose talent and health were sucked away as if by a black home once he got to Cleveland.
“That’s something that we’re looking at, too,” Switzer said. “Any time you have somebody, very similar to the Deshaun point, you got Jerry Jeudy who is a very talented player. That will be something we’re looking to tap into.
“A skill player’s production, year to year, there’s so many variables that go into that. I think you can overthink things. A lot of times, it’s outside of that individual player’s control. We’ll be looking at all of those things and we’ll be looking at Jeudy and (Isaiah) Bond.”
Jerry Jeudy Struggled Through 2025
There, Switzer seems to be implying that the struggle Jeudy had with the Browns last year might not have been his fault, that perhaps the real issue was the team’s terrible quarterback play, beginning with Joe Flacco and then split between rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
Don’t overthink it: The Browns had poor quarterback play, the worst in the league by PFF’s metrics, and the star receiver suffered for it.
Of course, that could be flipped on its head. Jeudy was among the leaders in the NFL last season, depending on which stats base you reference, in dropped passes, with 10 (he had seven in the first six weeks, per PFF). He obviously slacked on his routes, and those who interacted with him in the locker room said his presence there had turned sour.
So, it becomes chicken-and-the-egg. Was Jeudy’s poor showing last year caused by bad quarterback play, or did his poor play drag down the team’s quarterbacks?
Browns ‘Excited’ About Offensive Pieces
Switzer said there are offensive pieces on hand that the Browns are happy to have. They will be aggressive with adding another receiver, perhaps both with a premium pick in the draft and another in free agency. It’s a group that needs a lot of help.
But he is counting Jeudy among the teams assets, for now.
Said Switzer: “There’s pieces here we are excited about. It starts with Fannin, Jeudy, Shedeur and what he was able to show last year, Deshaun and what he was able to show in his past and Dillon and what he was able to show as well.”
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