Joel Bitonio is retiring after 12 seasons with the Browns.
The veteran guard, 34, announced his decision Tuesday, bringing to an end a career spent entirely in Cleveland and closing the chapter on one of the longest tenures by a player in franchise history.
Bitonio, a two-time First-Team All-Pro, revealed his decision in a farewell message published on the Browns’ website. In the letter, he reflected on his connection to the organization that drafted him in the second round in 2014.
“There was never a point where I could envision myself in a different uniform,” Bitonio wrote. “I started the job here, and once I got to a certain point, I knew I wanted to finish the job in Cleveland.”
Although he technically enters retirement as a free agent after playing out the final year of his contract, he said he always viewed Cleveland as his football home.
Bitonio spent more than a decade anchoring the Browns’ offensive line and earning a reputation as one of the league’s most reliable linemen.
In his retirement letter, he credited former Browns offensive linemen Joe Thomas, Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz for helping shape his approach to the game.
Bitonio recalled learning early in his career that Thomas had not missed a snap in eight seasons, while Mack and Schwartz had built similar streaks of durability.
“I made that my mindset,” Bitonio wrote.
That standard helped fuel an impressive run of consistency. Bitonio said he played 6,481 consecutive offensive snaps from the 2017 season through the 2023 season and also played every offensive snap during the 2025 campaign.
His retirement closes the book on a 12-year Browns career that ended exactly how he wanted it to — in Cleveland.
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