Could The Browns Be Headed To London To Face The Jaguars?

The Cleveland Browns are going to be the road team when they play the Jacksonville Jaguars this coming season. The door may be open for that game to be played in London.

Dec 10, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver David Bell (18). / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The full NFL schedule release is set for Wednesday evening. Leading up to the complete reveal of every game, select games will get announced on Monday and Tuesday. As of now, we already know the first two games getting the 2024 season started. On Thursday Night Football, the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs will play host to the Baltimore Ravens. The following day, the NFL will make history with a game in South America as the Green Bay Packers face the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil.

One of the #Browns division rivals, is slated to kickoff the 2024 season in Kansas City on opening night. That means if Cleveland is opening the season against an AFC North foe only two options remain: https://t.co/oVkLjPQ3nA

— Browns Digest (@BrownsDigestFN) May 13, 2024

To this point, nothing has been officially released on the Cleveland Browns. There have been rumblings about the Browns potentially playing on Christmas Day in 2024, much to the dismay of most Cleveland supporters. It will be interesting to see whether that actually comes to fruition.

As the NFL continues to expand their global outreach, London has become an expected game location for a matchup or two per season. Every Thanksgiving, NFL fans know the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys will each play a game. The Jacksonville Jaguars have become the team to expect in London every year as well. Since 2013, the Jaguars have traveled "across the pond" 11 times.

This coming season, the Cleveland Browns are set to face the Jaguars on the road. The Browns could certainly be headed to Jacksonville, but London feels like it has to be on the table. The Browns have only played one international game ever, when the team traveled to London to face the Minnesota Vikings in 2017. Since that time, Cleveland has hit a totally different level of success. The NFL has likely been planning for a quality product to be on display in London and last season the Browns and Jaguars played a solid game in Cleveland with the Browns winning 31-27.

Dec 10, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. (23) breaks up a pass. / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

If Cleveland has to travel to London in 2024, the fans in the United Kingdom will certainly get the pleasure of witnessing a strong team with an excellent defense. Would a trip to London be better than a trip to Jacksonville though?

In the 11 times Jacksonville has played in London, they are 6-5. At the moment, the Jaguars are on a two-game win streak and have won three of the last four games.

Since 2013, the Jaguars have a 33-55 record at home. Like Cleveland, they had their struggles for numerous seasons in that stretch. In recent history the team has been better. In the last four seasons, the Jaguars are still just 13-21 at home.

If the Browns end up traveling to London to play the Jaguars, then they could absolutely still win that game. It is just a ton of added travel and hopefully the following week would be a bye. Ideally a trip to London is not in the cards though. Not only would less travel be better, but I will take the chances of a win versus the Jags in Jacksonville over London.