For 11 years of football in Cleveland, unpredictablity has been the one constant. There have been five coaches. There have been nearly 20 starting quarterbacks. There have been two surprise playoff appearances, but there's also been a 1-15 season ... which was followed by an 0-16 season.
But there was a constant through it all: left guard Joel Bitonio who, no matter what was going on with the team's mostly wretched offense around him, has been one of the best blockers in the league, year in and year out.
Bitonio has two first-team All-Pro selections and seven straight Pro Bowl appearances to his credit, but at age 33 and heading into the final year of a three-year, $48 million contract extension he signed in 2021, there's some question as to whether he wants to keep plowing forward with this franchise.
According to a report from Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Bitoni has picked a direction on retirement, but has not made a final decision.
"LG Joel Bitonio says he’s leaning a certain way on retirement or not, but isn’t ready to share it," she wrote on Twitter/X.
Bitonio addressed whether he would retire at his exit interview in January.
He agreed with coach Kevin Stefanski that he played well in the second half of 2024.
Browns OL Joel Bitonio
© Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
"That makes it a little difficult, too, because I still feel like I can play in this league," Bitonio told reporters. "It’s just the burden of playing in this league is tough. And as an offensive lineman, you have to be fully committed. You don’t get to play, no offense to D-linemen, but Brandon Graham’s playing his 200th game and he plays like 24 snaps. You’re playing 55 to 85 snaps every game. I think I got close to 1,200 snaps this year on offense, and that’s a big commitment and then the practices and stuff like that.
“But once the O-line got settled, I got more comfortable and I feel like the last six to eight weeks I really played my best football this season.”
