Fresh Brownies. A dozen takes coming off the draft and heading into a Browns rookie minicamp. Dee Haslam broaches the topic of "new stadium." The bosses are leaving a door open for Baker Mayfield. An ex-Brown to light up CBS. More.
1, The Browns played for 50 years in their old stadium before leaving for Baltimore in advance of the wrecking ball.
This will be the 20th season for the new stadium the Browns have occupied since returning as an expansion team.
It's not too soon to think about a new house, or gussying up the current one, according to Dee Haslam, who owns the Browns with her husband Jimmy.
"The main things is to start the conversation at some point," Dee Haslam told ESPN. "I don't know that we're ready to start the conversation, but we are ready to get all the information we can about what's possible.
"There could be a lot of great ideas that we might not be able to do for one reason or another."
The Browns' lease at FirstEnergy Stadium runs through 2029. An estimated $120 million was spent on renovations made during the 2014 and 2015 offseasons.
Mrs. Haslam said "doing what is right for Cleveland" should drive any talks. The issue is sure to spark a wide range of debate.
This would be unanimous: The current stadium would look a lot better with a playoff team in it.
2, Perhaps the Patriots wanted to put Baker Mayfield through the whole nine yards of how he approaches quarterback play in case he landed with the Jets, a twice-a-year opponent.
Cleveland's pre-draft approach to Mayfield was only ever about the whole nine yards of the Browns.
Having been thoroughly grilled by Browns coaches before he got picked, Mayfield won't be jumping into a rookie minicamp cold turkey.
He will be in 90-minute practices starting at about 4 p.m. the next two days, and then a final session on Sunday. We're heading up to check him out.
3, Free agency pick-up Joel Stave might be sharing some QB work with Mayfield during the minicamp.
Stave's final year at Wisconsin (2015) opened with a drubbing at the hands of Alabama. It ended more happily when his Badgers beat USC in a bowl game.
Stave was cut by the Vikings and Seahawks before signing with John Dorsey's Chiefs on Nov. 8, 2016. He bounced from the Chiefs to the Redskins to the Jets in 2017.
4, The oddsmaker Bovada issued post-draft lines for opening week. Pittsburgh is a 6 1/2-point favorite at Cleveland. The Ravens are a 4 1/2-point home favorite to beat Taylor's previous team, Buffalo.
The Browns' second game will be at New Orleans, a 7-point home favorite against Tampa Bay in another opener.
5, Tyrod Taylor has faced the Steelers once in his seven NFL seasons. On Dec. 18, 2016, playing for Buffalo, he went 15-of-28 for 228 yards, with two touchdowns, an interception and five sacks in a 27-20 home loss. Ben Roethlisberger threw three interceptions in that game.
6, We interpret the bosses to be saying they don't want to rush Baker Mayfield, but will allow him to knock their socks off in August and prompt a "change of mind."
Best guess for now: Taylor starts the opener, with a chance to keep the job indefinitely within the coming season.
7, Of the five first-round quarterbacks the expansion-era Browns drafted before taking Mayfield at No. 1 overall, the only one to start a season opener was Brandon Weeden in 2012. The 28-year-old rookie out of Oklahoma State went 12-of-35 for 118 yards, with four interceptions in a 17-16 loss to Philadelphia. The Eagles' quarterback was Michael Vick.
8, The Browns have released a former Oklahoma teammate of Baker Mayfield. In waiving linebacker Dominique Alexander, they cited a "failed physical."
In their last season opener together (2015), both Mayfield and Alexander stood out in a 41-3 rout of the Akron Zips. Alexander made 10 tackles, three for loss. Mayfield threw for 388 yards.
Alexander played in 14 games as an undrafted Browns rookie in 2016 but lost most of last season to injury issues.
9, CBS has done well to hire Bruce Arians as a game analyst in a three-man booth including Greg Gumbel and Trent Green.
Some of the best Browns stories we have heard have come from Arians. He was offensive coordinator from 2001 through getting fired (not a great move) after the 2003 season.
Arians has told us more than once that 1999 No. 1 overall pick Tim Couch was a good player who could have been a force had he not taken such a beating as a young pro.
10, Arians once wanted the Browns' head coaching job. That ship sailed when the Colts and Cardinals gave him authority and he ran with it.
Hue Jackson is fighting for his coaching life. If he doesn't hang on, the candidates list will be interesting, it won't include Arians, who is going on 66. That ship is long gone.
Arians coached for the Steelers for eight years, his longest career stop. Pittsburgh fired him after the 2011 season (not a great move).
11, A Twitter poster, @MikeSofronski, wrote that he is tired of "@JoeBanner13 bashing" and added, "As for Cleveland, he got stabbed in the back by Lombardi, who is a tool. Joe made the Eagles relevant and great. I thank him for that."
Banner responded: "Thank you."
12, Randall Telfer will go down as one of the more anonymous Browns starters of the expansion era. He played in every game during the 0-16 year, with 14 starts. Telfer also started five games (playing in 14) in 2016.
He was a blocking tight end who caught I've passes across the two seasons.
Telfer's role likely will be picked up by free agency pick-up Darren Fells, who logged 549 snaps for the 2017 Lions (Telfer had 299 for the Browns).
Before trading him for defensive end Dadi Nicolas, the Browns expressed their appreciation by appointing Telfer to announce one of their late draft picks.
Reach Steve at 330-580-8347 or steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP