Cleveland Takes New Shot at Blocking Browns’ $2.4B Stadium

The city of Cleveland is digging further into the playbook in its ongoing attempt to stop the Browns’ planned move to suburban Brook Park, Ohio.

City officials are appealing a recent Ohio Department of Transportation decision that cleared the way for the NFL team’s planned $2.4 billion domed stadium and mixed-use development next to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. 

That decision—in which ODOT said that concerns were heard and addressed about the stadium’s proposed height of 221 feet above ground—was reached in error, according to the city. The department granted the permit to the Browns after relying in large part on an independent aviation consultant it hired. That consultant’s findings concurred with those of the Federal Aviation Administration and the team’s aviation experts.

The stadium’s height will remain at the same level, but it will have a series of lights on the roof to aid airplane traffic. 

“ODOT’s decision is not supported by reliable, probative, and substantial evidence, and is not in accordance with the law,” lawyers for Cleveland’s Department of Port Control wrote in a lawsuit that represents the appeal of the Browns permit decision. 

The lawsuit, filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, is now set to not only resurrect a matter seemingly settled, but also bring it in far greater public view than before. 

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb has long opposed the team’s planned move from the downtown Huntington Bank Field, and he has attacked the plan on multiple fronts. A separate lawsuit citing Ohio’s Modell Law has been largely mooted amid recent changes to state law, but the city contends the law’s provisions still apply to the Browns. The city is also challenging components of the team’s lease at the current facility. 

The Browns, however, intend to have a formal groundbreaking early next year in advance of a projected stadium opening in 2029. 

Change at Quarterback

While the stadium issue continues to play out, the Browns’ revolving door at quarterback continues to spin. The team traded Joe Flacco, the opening day starter, on Tuesday to the Bengals, along with a sixth-round draft pick, in return for a fifth-round pick.

Flacco had been benched in favor of Dillon Gabriel, while the Bengals have had their own issues at the position. Star quarterback Joe Burrow continues to deal with a toe injury, and his backup, Jake Browning, has lost three straight games. Rookie Shedeur Sanders could be elevated to No. 2 on the Browns’ depth chart behind Gabriel with the move. 

The difference in rookie contract value between a fifth-round pick and a sixth-round one this year, however, was less than $200,000 over four years. That means the biggest financial impact for the Browns in the deal will be shedding the remainder of Flacco’s $4.25 million salary.