CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns reportedly parted ways with a pair of well-respected NFL personnel men Wednesday, just 24 hours after announcing Andrew Berry had agreed to become the team’s next general manager.
According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, the Browns mutually parted ways with executive vice president Alonzo Highsmith and general manager Eliot Wolf, and the prior addressed his ouster with ESPN NFL reporter Josina Anderson.
“I wanted to go in a different direction because my philosophy on football is different from theirs,” Highsmith told Anderson. “I may go to Aruba or go to The Masters. I’m going to take some time to do some fun stuff. I may also clean my garage.
“Who knows? As far as football goes, I’ll just have to wait to see what happens. I love all parts of the game. I’ve never been a title guy. Working and contributing has always been my goal, so I do hope to return to the NFL.”
Wolf and Highsmith were brought to Cleveland by former general manager John Dorsey in January of 2018 with solid reputations in NFL circles after spending their entire personnel careers with the Green Bay Packers.
The son of a Pro Football Hall of Fame contributor, Wolf spent 14 years with Green Bay, including serving as the team’s director of football operations.
A Hall of Fame athlete at the University of Miami (Florida) and former NFL player, Highsmith spent 19 years in Green Bay’s front office. From 2012-2017, Highsmith was the Packers’ senior personnel executive. Previously, he spent 13 years in the team’s college scouting department.
The Browns parted ways with Dorsey in the days following a disappointing 6-10 record in the 2019 season.
The Browns making these reported changes continues a restructuring of the front office in an effort to find the organizational alignment desired by owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam.
The Browns’ ownership group feels synergy between the coach (Kevin Stefanski), general manager (Berry) and analytics department (headed up by Paul DePodesta) will be what gets the organization back on solid footing after seemingly endless turnover in the front office and on-field leadership since the Haslams purchased a controlling stake in the team during the 2012 season.
Stefanski is the fifth coach and Berry is the fifth general manager hired by the Haslams.
With the 2020 Senior Bowl already in the books, the Browns’ front office will turn their attention to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana in late February/early March.
At the Combine, Berry and his coaches will have 15 fewer interview slots than in past years, as the NFL has cut the nightly meetings from 60 to 45 in 2020, but those sessions will be extended by several minutes.