The Browns finished last in the AFC North in 2025 after finishing last in the division in 2024. They ranked 30 of 32 teams for the second straight year in the annual report card survey conducted by the NFL Players Association, according to information obtained by ESPN. All in all another embarrassin g year for the gang at 76 Lou Groza boulevard in Berea. Only the Cardinals (31st) and Steelers (32nd) ranked lower than the Browns in the 2026 report card issued while the NFL Scouting Combine was taking place in Indianapolis. A total of 1,759 players participated in the survey conducted between Nov. 2 and Dec. 11 2025, according to the NFLPA. Players graded the team they play for in 17 categories. They did not, for example, grade the visiting team’s locker room in other stadiums. The Miami Dolphins finished first in the survey for a third straight year. Here is the breakdown of the Browns grades: Treatment of Families: D-minus; Home Game Field: B-minus; Food/Dining Area: D-plus; Nutritionist/Dietician; C-plus; Locker Room: F; Training Room: C; Training Staff: C-plus; Weight Room: B-plus; Strength Coaches: B-plus; Position Coaches: B-minus; Offensive Coordinator: D-plus; Defensive Coordinator: A-minus; Special Teams Coordinator: D; Team Travel: D-minus; Head Coach: C-minus; General Manager: C; Team Ownership: C. Commentary was published from the survey in the past, but not this time. The treatment of families  category for the Browns, a D-minus this year, received a D-plus in the 2024 survey with this conclusion: “The players believe that the coaches’ families are treated better than players’ families. For example, the coaches’ families have a post-game meet-up inside the stadium, while the players’ families meet in a tent in the parking lot.” The conclusion is not attributed to any Browns player. The NFL likes to boast about its product and markets it worldwide. A game will be played in Australia for the first time when the 49ers and Rams meet in 2026. A record nine games will be played outside the United States next season. Seven were played outside the country last year. But the NFL contends the NFLPA survey violates the collective bargaining agreement. An arbitrator ruled in the league’s favor. The union responded by saying the surveys would continue even if it could not publish them. The union published the grades for 2025 on its players-only website, but the information leaked. The NFL is unhappy and sent a memo to each team. The memo also leaked and was published by Pro Football Talk. Here is an excerpt from the memo: “As we previously advised, the admissions made by the union and its counsel during the grievance hearing — including that: (i) the Report Cards are ‘union speech’; (ii) the union cherry-picks which topics and responses to include and exclude; (iii) players have no role in drafting the Report Cards commentary; (iv) the union chooses which anonymous player quotations to include and which ones to leave out; and (v) the union determines how much weight to allocate to each topic before assigning the ‘grades’ — confirmed that the Report Cards are neither reliable nor scientifically valid. In fact, these admissions explain the union’s ongoing and steadfast refusal to share any data or information about the process that it inaccurately tries to characterize as ‘scientifically valid.’ “Given these significant admitted limitations, we continue to recommend that Clubs prioritize feedback and information provided directly by their own players rather than relying on the NFLPA’s agenda-driven exercise. We further recommend that Clubs refrain from commenting or engaging publicly on the alleged survey and Report Card results. Doing so only provides credibility to the union’s media campaign.” The survey is not a good look for the NFL, no matter how loudly the league complains. ...read more read less