CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski is not the only one at team headquarters who is building a staff, as general manager/executive vice president Andrew Berry is constructing the personnel department after the previous top three executives parted ways since the end of the 2019 season.
According to a report from NFL Network/NFL.com Insider Ian Rapoport, Berry and the Browns hired former Indianapolis Colts general manager Ryan Grigson for “an advisory and consulting role.” Berry and Grigson previously worked together with the Colts.
“Grigson and GM Andrew Berry have had a strong relationship for years and Berry values his opinion,” Rapoport shared on Twitter. “Grigson had previously spent time in the Seahawks front office.”
After playing in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals and Detroit Lions, as well as the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts, Grigson began his career as an executive in the CFL.
Grigson worked in scouting for the Saskatchewan Roughriders (1998) and Buffalo Destroyers of the Arena Football League (1999) before joining the NFL ranks. Grigson served as a high-level scout for the St. Louis Rams (1999-2003) and Philadelphia Eagles (2004-2009).
Following his two-year run as a regional scout, and then, four seasons as the director of college scouting for the Eagles, Grigson was promoted to Philadelphia’s director of player personnel (2010-2011), where he became a sought-after executive.
Grigson spent five seasons as general manager of the Indianapolis Colts (2012-2016) before moving on to join the Browns as a senior personnel executive (2017), and later, the Seattle Seahawks as a senior football consultant (2018).
“We will be a scouting-centered front office,” Berry said during his introductory press conference at team headquarters earlier this month. “I’ve always believed and continue to believe scouting to be the lifeblood of roster building in the NFL, but we also are going to incorporate information, research and insights into our decision-making.”
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