It is finally over. The 2025 season is in the rearview mirror, and if you're a Cleveland fan, you've probably spent the last few months oscillating between pure frustration and a weird, flickering hope that only North Ohio sports can produce.
Everyone is asking the same thing: what's the Browns record now that the dust has settled? Honestly, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, though the "loss" column looks a lot heavier than anyone wanted back in August.
The Cleveland Browns finished the 2025 regular season with a 5-12 record.
That is not exactly the stuff of legend. However, if you actually watched the games—especially that grit-and-grind stretch in late December—you know those five wins felt like a monumental effort. They ended up dead last in the AFC North, which, let's be real, is currently the toughest neighborhood in professional football.
Breaking Down the 5-12 Finish
You’ve gotta look at how they got here. It wasn't a straight line to the bottom. It was more of a jagged, painful descent with a couple of nice views on the way down.
🔗 Read more: NY City Marathon Course Map: Why the Elevation Profile Is a Total Liar
The season kicked off with a heartbreaking 17-16 loss to the Bengals, and things didn't get much easier from there. By the time they hit their Week 9 bye, the locker room was reeling. But then something shifted.
They actually finished the season on a two-game winning streak.
Winning the last two games—a 13-6 defensive masterclass against the Steelers and a 20-18 nail-biter over Cincinnati—saved the season from being a total statistical catastrophe. It also probably gave the front office just enough "positive momentum" to justify some of the big changes we’re seeing now in early 2026.
The Schedule That Bit Back
The 2025 slate was brutal. Period.
When you look at what's the Browns record against winning teams, the math gets ugly. They went 2-4 in the division. In the NFL, if you can’t win at home against your rivals, you’re basically cooked. They dropped games to the Ravens (twice) and split with the Steelers and Bengals.
Outside the division, the road was just as bumpy.
- The London Letdown: A 21-17 loss to the Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
- The Blowouts: Getting trounced 41-17 by Baltimore in Week 2 and 31-3 by the Bears in mid-December.
- The Bright Spots: A massive 31-6 blowout of the Dolphins in Week 7 showed what this team could have been if they stayed healthy.
Myles Garrett and the History Books
If there is one reason to remember 2025, it’s not the team record. It’s #95.
✨ Don't miss: Dylan Desper and the Reality of Football Player Death Today
Myles Garrett did something absolutely insane this year. In the final game against the Bengals, he officially broke the NFL single-season sack record, finishing with 23.0 sacks. He moved past the 22.5 mark previously shared by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt.
Watching the game stop for a several-minute celebration after he took down Joe Burrow was... controversial. Zac Taylor and Ja'Marr Chase weren't exactly thrilled about the delay. But for Browns fans? That record was the Super Bowl. In a 5-12 season, you take the wins where you can find them.
Garrett was the heartbeat of a defense that actually finished the year ranked in the top 5 for yards allowed, despite the team's overall record. It’s a classic Cleveland paradox: an elite defense paired with an offense that, frankly, struggled to find its identity.
The Coaching Carousel Spins Again
On January 5, 2026, the other shoe finally dropped.
The Browns officially moved on from head coach Kevin Stefanski. It feels like the end of an era, even if it was an era defined by extreme highs (2020 and 2023) and some really deep lows. Stefanski left with a 45-56 overall record in Cleveland.
Why now? Well, 5-12 is hard to ignore when you’re five years into a tenure. The offense stagnated. The quarterback situation remained a massive question mark. Jimmy Haslam and Andrew Berry clearly felt that the "momentum" from those final two wins wasn't enough to paper over the cracks.
What Most People Get Wrong About the All-Time Record
When people talk about what's the Browns record, they usually focus on the "New Browns" era (1999–present). It’s easy to get cynical when you look at that 0-16 season in 2017 or the 1-15 run in 2016.
But the franchise actually has a deep, winning history if you look at the whole picture. Before the Super Bowl era, the Browns were the juggernauts of the league. They have eight recognized league championships (four in the AAFC and four in the NFL).
Even with the 5-12 finish this year, the franchise still holds a storied place in football history. The problem is that most fans under 40 have only seen a handful of winning seasons. The "winningest" coach in team history is still Paul Brown, who went 167-53-8. That's a far cry from the sub-.500 world the team has lived in lately.
The 2026 Outlook: Why 5-12 Might Be a Blessing
There is a silver lining to finishing in the AFC North basement.
Because they finished fourth, the Browns get a "last-place schedule" for 2026. This is huge. Instead of playing the heavy hitters from the AFC East or West, they’ll face the bottom-tier teams from those divisions.
The 2026 opponents are already set:
- Home: Bengals, Ravens, Steelers, Colts, Texans, Falcons, Panthers, Raiders.
- Away: Bengals, Ravens, Steelers, Jaguars, Titans, Saints, Buccaneers, Giants.
Facing the NFC South—a division that's been famously chaotic lately—gives this team a legitimate path back to .500 or better, assuming they can figure out the coaching situation and stay healthy.
Final Thoughts on the Numbers
So, what's the Browns record really tell us?
It tells us that the talent is there (Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward), but the consistency isn't. 5-12 is a failure by any standard, but it’s a failure that resulted in the #4 overall pick in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft.
If you're looking for actionable steps to follow this team through the offseason:
👉 See also: What Channel Is Texans Game Today? Watch the AFC Divisional Playoff
- Watch the Draft Order: The Browns are currently slotted for a top-5 pick. With names like Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel in the mix, the QB room could look very different by April.
- Monitor the Coaching Search: Jesse Minter (former Michigan DC) and Nate Scheelhaase are names that have already surfaced. The philosophy of the next coach will dictate if that 5-12 record was a fluke or a trend.
- Check the Salary Cap: With guys like Joel Bitonio and David Njoku hitting various contract milestones or free agency, the roster turnover this spring will be significant.
The 2025 season was a grind, but in Cleveland, the hope for "next year" usually starts the Monday after Week 18.
Next Steps for Browns Fans: Keep a close eye on the official NFL Draft Order as the playoffs conclude, as the Browns' 5-12 finish has secured them a premium pick that could define the next decade of the franchise.