It has been a dizzying last 36 hours in the world of the Cleveland Browns.
To recap, we went from the announcement of Sashi Browns' firing, to Hue Jackson's amazing press conference, to the hiring of John Dorsey as GM and his introductory gathering with the media and Jimmy Haslam today. Here are my thoughts after the storm has died down.
Giving Sashi Brown some deserved props
Let's first deal with Sashi Brown, departing after two years as the Browns' Executive VP of Football Operations. It was time for this to happen. In fact, I had argued for it two months ago. There were just too many misfires for him to be allowed to stay on the job.
However, I have a feeling that a few years from now, Brown will be remembered more fondly than he is thought of now.
Remember Chris Grant? The former Cavs GM had the difficult task of trying to rebuild the roster after LeBron James left in 2010. While the Wine and Gold had three ugly years on the court, Grant was in what he called 'asset accumulation mode,' and stockpiled draft picks and cap space. Unfortunately, Dan Gilbert is not the most patient owner in the NBA and the lack of success, coupled with the failure of draft picks Dion Waiters and Anthony Bennett led to Grant's demise. New GM David Griffin successfully parlayed the chips Grant left on the table to huge success once LeBron came back.
Maybe that's what we're in for with the Browns.
New GM John Dorsey will get to play with 2 first-round picks and 3 second-round picks in the 2018 draft. Plus, the Browns have a ton of room under the salary cap. If Dorsey cashes in these assets successfully, we will all need to give Sashi Brown a tip of the cap.
Back to the basics
On the surface, the hiring of Dorsey looked like a panic move because of the Giants' GM availability. Instead of waiting to see who might be available, the Browns rushed their way through the process. In fact, the move came so quickly that rumblings of 'Rooney Rule' violations came out when the Dorsey announcement was made.
Appearances, in this case, were deceiving.
The Browns vetted Dorsey over the past few weeks, getting a ringing endorsement from Hall of Fame GM Ron Wolf, who Dorsey worked for in Green Bay.
Per Ian Rappoport of the NFL Network, they fulfilled the Rooney Rule requirement of interviewing a minority candidate for a senior-level executive position by meeting with former Bills GM Doug Whaley.
They took their time, did their due diligence, and were decisive. Bravo.
Jimmy Haslam fought any temptation to go out of the box and got himself an honest-to-goodness football man with impressive credentials.
Better late than never, right?
Consider one other point about the hiring of Dorsey: My colleague Dave Chudowsky and I have been going back in Browns history and cannot recall a time when the team had an experienced head coach (someone who was an HC elsewhere) and an experienced GM (who controls the roster) at the same time.
This is as good a time as any to try.
Can another forced marriage work?
Here's my one gripe about how this all came about. I didn't like that Jimmy Haslam gave Hue Jackson the guarantee of being back in 2018. Nor do I like the arrangement that has Dorsey, Jackson, and Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta all reporting to Haslam.
It's not fair to Dorsey.
The 57-year-old has been hired to be the Browns general manager and will control the 53-man roster. His success or failure will be tied to how Jackson utilizes that roster on Sundays. Why not give him the power to hire or fire the head coach?
Hiring Dorsey this early would give him four weeks to evaluate Jackson and his staff to see if they are on the right track. If so, great. If not, Dorsey would be able to go out and pick the person he thinks would do the best job coaching the players he brings in.
After witnessing the soap opera that was going on at 76 Lou Groza Blvd. for the past two years between Jackson and Browns, you would think that Haslam would know better by now. Give the GM the power to hire and fire his coach, thereby putting all of the responsibility/accountability on him.
Instead, it's another forced marriage.
Today, Jackson and Dorsey said all the right things about each other.
From Dorsey about Hue: “I like him as a man. To me, I like him as a man. I like his overall offensive schematic stuff. I think that is kind of cool. I just like the way the team plays. They play hard, and I like a team that plays hard. It symbolizes the AFC North. You have to play hard.”
Hue on Dorsey: "He is a football lifer is what he is. That is all I have know. The fact that I was able to talk to people firsthand who I know who have worked with him that I trust in this business made me feel really comfortable that way. That is what it is all about. I think people know my personality pretty well and know his personality pretty well. We want to see if it will mix. Through conversations, I felt very comfortable with that.”
Haslam thinks their backgrounds, philosophy, and personalities will mesh. Time will tell.
I'll say this, cutting Kenny Britt was a great first step.
Finally....
While Dorsey goes to work analyzing and enhancing the roster, the pressure will start to turn up for Jackson.
There will be no more excuses. No more complaints about the lack of talent on the roster going forward. Hue won the power struggle with Brown, so he will presumably have more say in draft and personnel decisions.
Now the quarterback whisperer must live up to his reputation and finally identify, cultivate, and unleash a franchise signal-caller. Whether that quarterback is a draft pick, acquired by trade, or free agency, Jackson must get the guy.
Haslam basically called his shot during the press conference, declaring: "The Cleveland Browns are not going to be successful until we get a quarterback. We are going to do whatever it takes to find a quarterback we need to be successful. Let me say one more thing, that will be John’s (Dorsey) No. 1 priority."
That needs to be Jackson's top priority when this season ends as well. Otherwise, we may have another unconventional conventional coaching change by this time next year.
