With the NFL schedule release comes reactions.
Some may rue their bye-week placement or a gauntlet that awaits them during the season's stretch run. Others, like Panthers head coach Dave Canales, cherish a return to prime time as a potential springboard for growth.
For Browns defensive lineman Shelby Harris, it's Cleveland's lack of a prime-time game that caught his attention.
"I'll say it like this, you know, they can count us out all they want to," Harris said this week on Honor the Land. "It's up to us to go into the season and start whooping people's asses. I get it. Last year wasn't the season that we expected, and now this year they're going to say we didn't get prime time because of all of the quarterback controversy. Who cares? Screw 'em."
The Browns, who went 3-14 last season, are indeed absent a prime-time matchup heading into the 2025 season. They do travel to London for an international game against the Vikings in Week 5.
But there's storylines aplenty to follow in Cleveland both outside and pertaining to the quarterback room Harris mentioned. With incumbent starter Deshaun Watson possibly missing the entire season due to re-rupturing his Achilles, a four-way competition is set between returning hero Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and two rookies -- Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. However that plays out will attract eyeballs, no matter when the Browns play each week.
The team's running back position is equally intriguing as Cleveland likely forges beyond the Nick Chubb era. The Browns double dipped there in the draft, as well, with second-rounder Quinshon Judkins and fourth-rounder Dylan Sampson.
On the other side of the ball, Myles Garrett believed enough in the team's vision to sign a four-year extension, and he'll star again for a unit looking to recover after falling from the league's top total defense in 2023 to 19th in 2024.
The motivation Harris alluded to, taking note of the perceived slight but cognizant that it's ultimately on him and his teammates to prove how good they are, could serve an underdog Browns squad well.
Plus, if it turns things around quickly, Cleveland might still find itself in prime time by virtue of a flexed game -- or even in Week 18 should a showdown against the Bengals come with the AFC North or a playoff spot on the line.
For now, the Browns can pin the schedule on the bulletin board as a reminder while preparing for the season ahead.
