For anyone looking forward to the Browns having the highest possible draft pick in April, their game this Sunday with the Saints may be the most significant hurdle in the way. Based on how the 2024 season has gone so far, it’s certainly the most winnable game still on the slate.

It’s great to see the team win, and it’s certainly good for chemistry. It’s also important for trying to establish and maintain a winning culture. But without running off eight straight victories to close the campaign, any chance of this season continuing past Week 18 for the Browns has already sailed on a ship that left the quay last month.

So what can we expect to see?

After the upcoming meeting in New Orleans, the Browns remaining schedule features the Steelers twice (Weeks 12 and 14), at Broncos (Week 13), the Chiefs and Dolphins in Cleveland (Weeks 15 and 17), and the Bengals and Ravens on the road (Weeks 16 and 18).

Playing as they have been, it’d be tough to find a win in that minefield for anybody looking for one. Bookmakers will almost undoubtedly install the Browns as underdogs in every one of those contests.

It’s true that division games tend to produce unexpected results: a fact clearly evidenced by the Dawgs second W of the year, which occurred inexplicably in Week 8 against the Ravens in a game neither team had any business winning.

And while odd things can happen on any given Sunday, Cleveland’s opponent in each of the final seven matchups is likely to be alive in the playoff race; the Browns will almost certainly not be. But they might be able to get in good position to draft highly.

That’s what we’ll explore right now, in Part 2.

—@PoisonPill4