CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Cleveland Browns will be well represented at NFL Honors next month, and not featured as a punchline in the opening monologue either.
Cleveland’s improbable playoff berth has earned them nominations for four league awards this year.
Defensive end Myles Garrett, quarterback Joe Flacco, head coach Kevin Stefanski and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz were all named finalists Wednesday for various end of season awards that will be handed out by the Associated Press at NFL Honors on February 8.
Garrett is up for Defensive Player of the Year after tallying 14.0 sacks, 30 QB hits, 17 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles in 2023. Garrett, selected to his fifth Pro Bowl, was named first-team All-Pro for the third time and he made the All-Pro team for the fifth time by the AP.
Led by EVP/GM Andrew Berry and Stefanski, the Browns have been pushing for Garrett to win the award this year with the central theme being Garrett’s stats don’t do his dominance on the field justice.
“We feel like his work on the field hasn't always been nationally recognized, to be quite honest,” Berry said Tuesday night at the 24th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards. “And so just having a historically great player on a historically great defense and everything we were able to accomplish this year with him being a huge part of it, it would be really important to us organizationally [for him to win].”
Joining Garrett as finalists for Defensive Player of the Year are Cowboys cornerback Daron Bland and linebacker Micah Parsons, Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby and Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt.
Flacco, who was signed to the Browns practice squad on November 20, is up for Comeback Player of the Year after he threw for 1,616 yards with 13 touchdowns that also saw him win four of five starts down the stretch to help the Browns clinch their second playoff berth in four years.
Bills safety Damar Hamlin likely is the sentimental favorite for the Comeback Player of the Year award following his recovery and return from a cardiac arrest suffered in the middle of a game on January 2, 2023. Former Browns quarterback and Buccaneer Baker Mayfield and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford are also finalists.
Stefanski, who won Coach of the Year in 2020 following an 11-5 season that ended the NFL’s longest playoff drought at 18 years, is up for the award again after guiding the Browns through 15 season-ending injuries and five different starting quarterbacks with four of them winning at least one game. Stefanski is the only Browns coach other than Hall of Famer Paul Brown to win 11 games in the regular season multiple times.
Lions coach Dan Campbell, Ravens coach Hohn Harbaugh, Texans coach DeMeco Ryans, and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan join Stefanski as finalists.
Schwartz helped transform one of the NFL’s worst performing defenses into the No. 1 overall unit in 2023 and he was named a finalist for Assistant Coach of the Year. It was the first time in the Super Bowl era and since 1955 that Cleveland finished a season leading the NFL in overall defense and fifth time in franchise history.
“I think Jim's influence on really the entire defense was enormous, quite honestly,” Berry said Tuesday night. “I think is tailor made for this defensive philosophy in terms of attacking and getting after the quarterback and rushing the passer. And I think Myles really took to it. He was a dominant force this year, and I think Jim's a huge part of that.”
Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken and defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald along with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnso and Texans offensive coordiantor Bobby Slowik are also finalists with Schwartz.
