Richard Deitsch of The Athletic started this week’s “Media Circus” column by highlighting just how long it has been since the Cleveland Browns were on prime time television in the NFL’s regular season.
The team’s last Monday night game was in 2015. Its last Sunday night game came two months before the 2008 presidential election.
Deitsch talked to producers of both ESPN’s Monday Night Football and NBC’s Sunday Night Football this week, and both expect to spend at least one weekend in Cleveland this season.
“They had a very strong end to the season and what appears to be a top-flight quarterback who also comes with a very big personality and a confidence or cockiness. He can play and he likes to back it up with proclamations so he is interesting,” said Sunday Night Football producer Fred Gaudelli. “They have a good defense and by adding Odell Beckham, they have added in my opinion one of the top 10 players in the league who also comes with a little circus. They are kind of a team made for prime time.”
ESPN Executive Vice President of Programming and Scheduling, Burke Mangus is a little more blunt with his wishes. “We’ve been on the Browns for multiple appearances on Monday Night Football for months.”
Cleveland’s 2018 schedule will see matchups against the entire AFC East and NFC West in addition to its division rivals. The Denver Broncos and Tennessee Titans will also be on the schedule.
It’s easy to imagine an “old guard vs. new blood” matchup with the Patriots making its way to prime time TV. The same could be true of the game against the Arizona Cardinals if that team uses the first pick on Kyler Murray, who took over as the starting QB at the University of Oklahoma after Baker Mayfield was drafted by the Browns in 2018.
