Ed Puskas: Plenty to like in Berea

How pumped are Cleveland Browns fans right now?

Some of them are dancing in the streets like Mick Jagger and David Bowie.

A teenaged fan in Shaker Heights reacted to his favorite team acquiring Odell Beckham Jr. by sprinting down the street screaming with joy Tuesday night.

The celebration prompted a neighbor to call 911 and police were dispatched. But after questioning the youth, officers quickly determined there was no danger and everyone went home happy, particularly about the prospect of watching Baker Mayfield and OBJ stretch the field next fall.

After all, this was not a middle-aged sports editor answering a cell phone in a car on his way to lunch at Tommy’s in Cleveland Heights.

That would be dangerous, but I digress.

Perhaps the real danger is to rest of the AFC North.

The Browns are back just a little more than a year after going 0-16.

But before you start checking out flights and hotel prices for Miami in early 2020, remember the Browns haven’t won anything yet.

It’s easy to look at the moves Browns GM John Dorsey has made and get excited about contending in the division.

Or maybe making the playoffs for just the second time since the franchise’s 1999 return.

Or perhaps getting to the Super Bowl.

But remember that even after trading for a game-changing wide receiver like Beckham and bolstering the defensive front with Olivier Vernon and Sheldon Richardson — among other moves — there is still an element of chance when it comes to the Browns.

The difference is that instead of hoping that little-known young players and horribly overrated draft picks will develop into something or that aging retreads and career malcontents still have some juice, this time the Browns are gambling that a diverse group of extremely talented players will coalesce to form a winning team.

Thanks to Dorsey. the Browns — bereft of talent not so long ago — have it to burn.

A colleague who has spent three-plus decades covering the Browns told me that Mayfield, Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, Jarvis Landry, David Njoku, Beckham and others might represent the most offensive talent the franchise has ever had at any one time.

Bold statement? Maybe, considering the 1964 Browns won an NFL title, But if these players all stay healthy, stay out of trouble and mesh the way Dorsey believes they can, this is an offense that should be difficult to stop.

Also, it’s still early in free agency and the Browns still have more cap space than most.

And even after trading the No. 17 pick and a third-rounder for Beckham, the Browns have plenty of picks in the upcoming draft.

More moves will be made before this team gets to training camp.

It’s an exciting time to be a Browns fan. But as Dorsey cautioned last week, good teams win in the fall, not in March.

Still, it’s fun to speculate about what could happen with a team that has come so far since that 0-16 parade.

Write Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.