PHOENIX — The general manager and the head coach are back for a fourth year together. The quarterback is expected to available for the full season. Free agency and a trade have altered the roster.

Does that mean Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is in full-on "Super Bowl or bust" mode as he looks at the upcoming season?

"I guess there are 32 teams that think their team’s going to win the Super Bowl," Haslam said Monday to a small group of local reporters, including the Beacon Journal, at the NFL's annual meetings at the Arizona Biltmore Resort. "I can assure you this — from ownership to personnel to coaching to the support people in the building — nobody wants to win more than the group of people I just listed. Nobody works harder or cares more about it.

"I think we’ve made some good progress in the offseason, both in the coaching staff and with the team. And I think we’re all optimistic going into this year. So I’ll just leave it at that."

The Browns are coming off a 7-10 season marred by the 11-game suspension of quarterback Deshaun Watson for personal conduct policy violations connected to more than two dozen allegations of sexual assault and sexual misconduct during massage appointments while he was with the Houston Texans.

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However, that season was also a one-game regression from the previous season, when the Browns finished 8-9. That was on the heels of the team's best season since 1994 — both in terms of regular-season wins (11) and playoff advancement (AFC Divisional round) — in 2020, the first year of the tandem of general manager Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski.

Despite that regression, Haslam said Monday there was "no consideration" of firing the two after the season. The Browns did replace two of their coordinators after the season, hiring Jim Schwartz to take over for Joe Woods as defensive coordinator and Bubba Ventrone to take Mike Priefer's job as special teams coordinator.

"None of us thought we'd be 7-10 even with Jacoby (Brissett) playing 11 games, Deshaun missing 11 games, however you want to say it," Haslam said. "We were all disappointed, very disappointed. Like I said, the desire to win in that building, whether it's ownership — I’m just repeating myself — or personnel coaches is extremely high. We’ve got high standards so we expect to do better."

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That last statement, however, is the gauntlet being thrown down on those running the football operations, both in personnel acquisition and coaching. Haslam made that point even clear when he said it was "premature" to talk about contract extensions for either Berry or Stefanski, who have two seasons remaining on their original five-year contracts.

Berry and Stefanski reaching their fourth season together matches the Phil Savage-Romeo Crennel pairing from 2005-08 as the longest-tenured GM and coach since the franchise was reborn in 1999. They have produced one of only three winning seasons and one of only two playoff seasons in the last 24 years, but also have the back-to-back losing seasons.

"I don't know that there's more pressure," Haslam said. "There's pressure every year. There's pressure every game. You all know how hard it's to win in the NFL — we certainly do — to win a game in the NFL, to win games in the NFL. So I think everybody has a sense of urgency that we need to play well this year."

Haslam's track record with coaches and general managers shows an impatience with losing, although three consecutive losing seasons is something few Browns coaches have survived regardless of who owned the team. The last Browns coach to get another season after three consecutive losing seasons was Bill Belichick, who went 6-10, 7-9 and 7-9 in his first three seasons from 1991-93 before posting an 11-5 playoff season in 1994.

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There is a world in the ultra-competitive AFC where the Browns could turn things around and win nine, even 10 games and not make the playoffs next season. However, while stopping short of saying "playoffs or bust," Haslam continued to state the expectations are to be playing beyond Week 18.

"I don't want to say that, but I think that we have expectations to go to the playoffs," Haslam said. "But I'm not going to say if we don't make the playoffs, X, Y, Z happens because they'll be the headline tomorrow, OK? Listen, the AFC is tough. You all been around, our division is tough."

The Browns have been active since the free-agency period opened a little more than two weeks ago. They've addressed concerns on the defensive line (Dalvin Tomlinson, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Maurice Hurst Jr., Trysten Hill), safety (Juan Thornhill), tight end (Jordan Akins) and receiver (Elijah Moore, Marquise Goodwin).

Such March maneuvers only seem to make the expectations for success grow, from the Haslams themselves and the fans. Stefanski, though, is trying to keep those in check to an extent, even while understanding what the directive essentially is from above him.

"As you can imagine, I don't really think of it that way," Stefanski said. "I think about putting our team together and getting ready to play good football come Week 1. Expectations for our players, we always hold ourselves to a high standard. So certainly when you get back in the building and you start working towards your goals, 32 teams want to win the Super Bowl. That'll never change but, for us, we really put the focus on the work that goes into it, and a lot of that work will start in earnest on April 17."

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jimmy Haslam said it's a 'sense of urgency' for Cleveland Browns