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The Browns are still awaiting a decision from Joel Bitonio.<\/p>\n
The NFL Draft is quickly approaching and the Cleveland Browns<\/a> still do not have much clarity on Joel Bitonio\u2019s future.<\/p>\n The seven-time Pro Bowl left guard has yet to announce whether he will return<\/a> for a 13th NFL season or retire after 12 years with the only franchise he\u2019s ever known.<\/p>\n Browns general manager Andrew Berry addressed the situation publicly earlier this month, making clear the organization isn\u2019t pushing Bitonio toward a decision.<\/p>\n \u201cJoel has been a foundational player for the organization,\u201d Berry said<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s everything that we could have asked as a Brown. He needs to make the decision on his own timeline, just simple as that. And like he\u2019s earned that right. He will have that right. You know, we\u2019ll be ready either way.\u201d<\/p>\n Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com<\/a> believes Bitonio may be nearing the end of his career, pointing to the prolonged timeline surrounding his decision.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that he hasn\u2019t said he\u2019s coming back yet leads me to believe he\u2019s probably done, but he could also be giving his body time to heal,\u201d Cabot said. \u201cIn the meantime, the Browns have proceeded as though he\u2019s not coming back, and have a good new left guard in Zion Johnson to replace him.\u201d<\/p>\n Bitonio on Decision: I\u2019m Living Life Right Now<\/p>\n Bitonio recently opened up on his process during an interview with Nevada Sports Net<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the weirdest offseason because I\u2019ve finished my contract with the Cleveland Browns and I\u2019m sure people are, like, \u2018Oh, he\u2019s gonna retire; he\u2019s not gonna retire,’\u201d Bitonio said.<\/p>\n Bitonio said he\u2019s weighing whether to return to Cleveland, sign with another team, or retire. He wants to see how the draft unfolds and how his body responds as the offseason.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just kind of living life right now. I\u2019ve been spending a lot of time with family, and I\u2019ve played football for 25 years so any decision you make is a big decision,\u201d Bitonio said. \u201cIf you come back, if you want to play for the Browns, if you want to play for another team, if you want to retire. All those things are in my mind and a big decision for me to make.\u201d<\/p>\n The former All-Pro did acknowledge that there\u2019s an emotional side to the decision he\u2019s weighing as well.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s still hard to imagine yourself in anything but a Browns uniform,\u201d he said. \u201cI played there for 12 years and it\u2019s my whole career. That\u2019s all I know.\u201d<\/p>\n Browns Have Made Moves on Offensive Line<\/p>\n When Bitonio\u2019s previous contract voided at the start of the new league year in March, it triggered $23.5 million in dead cap charges<\/a> for the Browns in 2026. It\u2019s a cost the team is absorbing no matter what he decides.<\/p>\n But the Browns haven\u2019t let Bitonio\u2019s uncertain future affect their decision-making. The Browns signed Johnson and Elgton Jenkins in free agency to address the interior line. The team also acquired right tackle Tytus Howard<\/a> from Houston and retained Teven Jenkins, giving the Browns a largely rebuilt offensive line regardless of Bitonio\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n If Bitonio does decide to come back, Cleveland has enough flexibility up front that he\u2019d still have a spot.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJ.R. DeGroote<\/a> JR DeGroote is a staff writer for Heavy.com, where he has covered the NFL, NBA, and trending sports stories since 2019. His work focuses on some of the most passionate fanbases in sports, including reporting on the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Lakers. More about J.R. DeGroote<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Browns\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Browns are still awaiting a decision from Joel Bitonio. The NFL Draft is quickly approaching and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[86,85,54,2337,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-869636","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-browns","9":"tag-cleveland","10":"tag-cleveland-browns","11":"tag-clevelandbrowns","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116429499398300241","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}