New Browns GM Andrew Berry announced a series of additions, promotions, and title changes on his player personnel staff today.
The entire list can be found here, courtesy of the team’s official website. Some of the moves, like the hiring of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as vice president of football operations and the addition of former Colts GM Ryan Grigson, have been reported previously.
Grigson, though, finally has a formal title: senior football advisor. He and Berry have a long-standing professional relationship, but Berry said his familiarity with Grigson is not the reason he was brought on board. “[Grigson] is here because I think he is very good,” Berry said. “He has a very established track record as a personnel evaluator from his time in St. Louis at the time, Philly and then obviously, Indianapolis. General Manager experience, rebuilt the Colts into a winner very quickly, Executive of the Year. And that is something that is valuable to me.”
Adofo-Mensah, who spent seven years with the 49ers, will be a part of all roster and strategy decisions and will also assist Berry with day-to-day operations (he is essentially the assistant GM). “I think [Adofo-Mensah] brings a nice blend of both an insider and an outsider perspective to football,” Berry said. “He is humble, high integrity, a continuous learner, true growth mindset and he has fantastic interpersonal and people skills … I think he is really a perfect fit to add to the mix.”
Meanwhile, former assistant director of scouting Glenn Cook, who has been with the Browns since 2016, has been promoted to vice president of player personnel. He will lead the day-to-day operations of the player personnel department, and as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, Cook will also be in charge of college and pro scouting. He will be assisted by Dan Saganey, the new director of player personnel.
Of course, there are also a number of new-age, analtyics positions. Nate Sterken will serve as the new lead data scientist, Andrew Jackson is the data architect, and Ken Kovash is the vice president of player personnel process and development. Berry has been lauded for the work he has done in his first few months on the job, and his roster looks like one that could compete for a playoff spot in 2020. Today’s moves are another step towards his putting his stamp on the organization.
I wish I was a Browns fan. They have done great in the last 2 offseasons and if Baker pans out they could definitely win super bowls in the coming years.
you might be the only person to ever say that
True dat, lol.
Don’t get your hopes up. Jackson > Mayfield in almost every category now and in the future.
Michael Vick, Robert Griffin III, in the blink of an eye, injuries change everything. Let’s talk in 5 years.
I am a Browns fan and agree completely he off season moves they make are pretty exciting. Regardless of what some people say about the owner, he is not cheap. I think most fans of other teams would like to have an owner willing to spend.
I agree with your last sentence.
Signed,
An Indians fan
Acquiring talent they’ve done well, but hiring Kitchens destroyed that team. Firing him was the best thing the Browns did, because their roster is otherwise pretty talented. I don’t even blame Baker at all because the team had no discipline. Watching that offense last year, it appeared that he and Chubb were the only two actually trying to win on every snap. I mean, his top two targets didn’t even work with him during the offseason (which is why Mayfield had such great chemistry with Higgins when they let him on the field). Leaving a second year player in charge of a locker room full of big personalities and divas (like Landry and Beckham) and no coach to instill a winning culture is a how to erase all that talent in an instant.
There was no solid culture to instill team pride and no coach to take leadership. With that, who was going to take control when the team was down or when Beckham was upset or whatever happened? You want your sophomore QB to take that responsibility on his own? Hell, Myles Garrett was a team leader who got so stressed that he hit another dude with his own helmet.
I can’t blame Dorsey for getting the talent, but knowing that they had to build a winning culture, he needed to pick a better coach. Veteran, I would say, who knew what was necessary and a history the players could believe in. But with that gone, and Mayfield more mature (I don’t think Landry or Beckham will change by this point), maybe Stefanski can be the guy who takes leadership of that team to actually build a winning culture. That roster is talented. They just need to develop an identity. If that involves shedding players, so be it, but I can definitely see them improving next year if Mayfield applies his experience from last year and Stefanski takes hold of the team.
Lots of promotions etc for a team that has done nothing on the field
Might want to save the headline on this one. You will be reusing it often as Haslem is an impulsive moron and one of the dumbest owners in sports.
Yet he’s a billionaire who owns an NFL team……while you sit in your basement and bash him anonymously from behind a keyboard.
Well said.
Pretty typical of the bureaucratic glut that exists in almost all areas of the NFL. If your wondering why ticket prices are escalating out of reach of the average working fan look no further.