Let’s take a step back to the beginning of the 2001 NFL season. Miami Dolphins head coach Dave Wannstedt was starting his second year, taking over from the famed Jimmy Johnson. Meanwhile, both the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets were beginning anew. The Browns brought in Butch Davis to replace Chris Palmer, and the Jets let go of Herm Edwards after trying out both Al Groh and Bill Belichick.
There were high hopes for all three teams back then; the future seemed promising.
Fast forward almost 25 years, and it’s clear that not much has changed. As the 2025 season wraps up, the Dolphins, Browns, and Jets each see losing records, missed playoffs, and no Super Bowl appearances.
The Browns often find themselves the butt of NFL jokes, a franchise infamous for its struggles since 2001. They even became just the second team in NFL history to go winless in a season. Over this period, they’ve cycled through 39 starting quarterbacks, including three this year alone: Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedule Sanders. The team has had nine different head coaches and made the playoffs three times, with one playoff win tucked away. Yet, they finished last in the postseason in 2023.
Surprisingly, despite Cleveland’s reputation, that one playoff victory is still more than the Dolphins have achieved since 2001.
The Dolphins have only enjoyed five playoff berths, banking on talents like Jay Fiedler, Daunte Culpepper, Chad Pennington, Jay Cutler, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Tua Tagovailoa—who was just the 26th starting QB in their history. Remarkably, since Dan Marino retired in 1999, they have rotated through 27 quarterbacks. Mike McDaniel is now the Dolphins’ eighth head coach, and even though there have been some standout moments—like the connection between Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill—success has been scarce since Marino’s era.
The Jets, too, have faced a downward spiral. While both the Browns and Dolphins have seen their share of ups and downs lately, most of New York’s significant achievements came during the 2000s.
The Jets had playoff runs six times from 2001 to 2010, making it to the Super Bowl twice with Mark Sanchez, Darrelle Revis, and Rex Ryan leading the way. But, from 2010 onward, they have suffered through 12 losing seasons, failing to make the playoffs and only managing to finish above .500 once.
It’s almost eerie how three historically important franchises seem to be on parallel paths of frustration. You’d think, in a league with 12 different Super Bowl winners and 19 teams that have at least played in the championship game, things might look a bit different for these guys.
And sure, there have been exciting additions over the years. The hype around the Jets signing Brett Favre was massive, while the Browns’ pick of Johnny Manziel sparked mixed reactions across the league. Then, the Dolphins had standout moments with players like Ricky Williams, Jason Taylor, and Zach Thomas.
Yet, despite all the promise, the expected successes never really materialized.
2001 was huge for all three teams in many ways, but as 2025 comes to a close, some tough decisions loom for the upcoming 2026 season.
Coaches Mike McDaniel, Kevin Stefanski, and Aaron Glenn have all made names for themselves, though only Miami changed general managers partway through the season. Glenn is in his first year, but there’s uncertainty about his future with the team.
Each team might soon be on the lookout for a new quarterback. The Dolphins benched Tagovailoa for the season’s last few games despite his hefty contract. Meanwhile, the Browns are still uncertain about who should lead as their top quarterback, especially with Deshaun Watson still under contract. The Jets also tried out three quarterbacks this year, and they might be eyeing someone like Fernando Mendoza with a high draft pick.
Any of these franchises could pivot at any moment, yet as the 2025 season wraps up, it’s strikingly similar to what we saw at the turn of the new millennium. It feels like nothing’s changing anytime soon.
