BEREA, Ohio — After contemplating his future since January, veteran offensive lineman Joel Bitonio made his retirement from professional football official this week following a dozen seasons with the Cleveland Browns.
The 34-year-old player formalized his decision during a Tuesday press conference, having earlier shared the news through the team’s official website.
“This place is so special that it was hard to truly say goodbye. I’m so glad I got to learn and be a Cleveland Brown my entire career,” Bitonio stated during the announcement, with his wife Courtney and their three children present.
The retirement announcement coincided with the Browns beginning their mandatory three-day minicamp session.
Selected as the 35th overall pick in the second round of the 2014 draft, Bitonio spent his complete professional career in Cleveland. He became a cornerstone at left guard and took on leadership responsibilities for the offensive line following Hall of Fame left tackle Joe Thomas’s retirement in 2017.
With 178 career starts, Bitonio ranks ninth in franchise history for games played. Since the Browns returned to Cleveland in 1999, no player has started more games wearing the team colors.
“He was a model of consistency. I hardly ever remember Joel having a bad game,” owner Jimmy Haslam commented. “He did what I think you ask everybody to do in any organization, and that is come to work, work hard, do your job, be a good team player, go home, spend time with your family, and come back and do it again, and he did that for 12 years.”
While Bitonio continued visiting the training facility for rehabilitation following elbow surgery during the offseason, he took his time making the retirement decision until it felt appropriate.
“We signed like three interior linemen on the first day of free agency, so that was kind of like me and AB (general manager Andrew Berry) had already discussed that I was going to retire and I was finishing up my career,” explained Bitonio, who earned two All-Pro selections and seven Pro Bowl honors. “I know my agent talked to a bunch of teams during the combine, and people asked if I was interested in continuing to play, but there never got anything where I was telling people I wanted to play for another team.”
Among Bitonio’s career highlights were participating in playoff runs during the 2020 and 2023 seasons. However, he was forced to miss the AFC wild-card matchup against Pittsburgh in January 2021 due to COVID-19. Cleveland’s 48-37 triumph over the Steelers marked their first postseason victory since 1994.
Watching that historic game from home became a unique experience for Bitonio.
“My neighborhood knew I was at home, and they started lighting off fireworks after the game, and they threw a little parade down the street. So it was an unbelievable experience because we got the win. I think it would have been heart-wrenching if you’re sitting there and the team loses,” he recalled.
During his tenure, Bitonio witnessed the Browns’ ongoing search for a franchise quarterback, protecting 23 different signal-callers, with 22 of them making at least one start.
Last season, he was the sole Browns offensive lineman to start and participate in all 17 games. The team utilized 10 different line combinations throughout the season due to various injuries.
Cleveland has been rebuilding their offensive line, selecting left tackle Spencer Fano with the ninth overall draft pick. They also added left guard Zion Johnson and center/guard Elgton Jenkins through free agency, while trading for right tackle Tytus Howard from Houston.
Teven Jenkins, who appeared in all 17 games with four starts at right guard, may be the only returning starter from last season’s line.
“I think I was telling my wife the other day, it still kind of feels like an offseason right now. I’ve still been working out. I’m obviously not training as much, not at minicamp right now, but I think when training camp starts is going to be the real moment like, ‘OK, I’m retired from this,’ because that’s when everything really cranks up,” Bitonio reflected.
