For rookies Spencer Fano, Austin Barber and Parker Brailsford, as they navigate the early stages of their NFL careers, they have numerous examples in Thomas, Mack and Bitonio to reference for what success can look like as a Browns’ offensive linemen. They have other models of units that featured former players in Wyatt Teller, Jack Conklin, Ethan Pocic and Bitonio that built a level of chemistry and consistency over their time in Cleveland together, and how that translates to success on the field. They each have an opportunity to establish a mindset centered around consistency and dependability from their first offensive snaps with the Browns, regardless of how their individual roles develop.
Even for the veteran additions to the position group in Tytus Howard, Elgton Jenkins and Zion Johnson, they have a responsibility to continue the Browns’ standard of consistency and cultivate that mindset in the room, no matter where they line up in the trenches.
For Johnson, who could step in to the starting left guard position this season, he feels a particular level of responsibility. When Johnson first signed with the Browns during free agency, he highlighted just how well-known Bitonio’s consistency and level of play was around the league.
“I think every young guard knows who Joel Bitonio is,” Johnson said in March 2026. “He’s played at an extremely high level, year after year after year. He’s kind of the pinnacle and on the level that a lot of young guards aspire to play to. […] It’s an honor to be able to play that position after somebody like that. It’ll be my job to hold that standard in my time as well.”
As the Browns move forward into this new era as a team, Bitonio’s legacy as a player will live on. Their new core of offensive linemen must now follow in the footsteps of Bitonio to continue that standard he carried each and every day as they build their own chemistry as a unit.