The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They currently belong to the Northern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Browns began play in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and joined the NFL in 1950 after the AAFC merged into the older league. The team has won 4 AAFC titles and 4 NFL Championships.

In some accounts, there may be confusion regarding the team's history due to unusual and unprecedented actions taken by the city of Cleveland and the NFL in 1996. On November 6, 1995, then-Browns owner Art Modell announced his intention to move the team to Baltimore, citing the inadequacy of Cleveland Stadium and the lack of a sufficient replacement along with his heavy debt. The decision triggered a flurry of legal activity that ended when representatives of Cleveland and the NFL reached a settlement on February 8, 1996. It stipulated that the Browns' name, colors, and history of the franchise were to remain in Cleveland. A reactivated Cleveland Browns team would then begin play in 1999 in the AFC Central Division, while the relocated club would technically and legally be a new expansion team, the Baltimore Ravens.

For that reason, past records and Pro Football Hall of Fame players are attributed to the Browns and not to the Ravens. However, some incorrectly consider the Ravens and the pre-1995 Browns organization as one continuous entity since Art Modell retained the player and personnel contracts for his franchise, using terms like "The Modell organization" or "Art Modell's franchise" to denote it. (See the Franchise History section below for full details of the move.)