Category: Front Office

Report: Myles Garrett and the Browns are having contract extension discussions

A report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler indicates Myles Garrett and the Browns are having contract extension discussions

Myles Garrett and the Cleveland Browns have begun to have talks about a possible contract extension for the standout defensive end, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Garrett, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, has two years remaining on his rookie contract. The Browns chose to pick up the fifth-year option on that contract earlier this offseason, along with that of tight end David Njoku.

The Browns currently have ample cap room for the 2020 season, which could lead to a front-loaded extension that would pay Garrett handsomely. No. 95 was in the middle of an outstanding 2019 season before he was suspended for the final six games for an on-field incident against Steelers QB Mason Rudolph.

It will be interesting to see how the suspension impacts the payout for Garrett. Based on what he’s done in his first three seasons, he could be in line for a massive payday. Garrett has notched 30.5 sacks, 32 tackles for loss and forced six fumbles in 37 career games with the Browns.

Browns VP Kwesi Adofo-Mensah embraces being a role model for young black men

Browns VP of Football Operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah embraces being a role model for young black men in his new role

One of the first things new Browns VP of Football Operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah took note of after being hired was how many young black men congratulated him for his climb up the NFL’s front office ladder. Adofo-Mensah was taken aback by how much reach his move from San Francisco to Cleveland had on the African-American community.

Adofo-Mensah noted he got “a lot” of congratulatory notes “from awesome Cleveland fans”, but it was others that he got that really hit home.

“Some of them were from black men who were just saying that it inspired them to see somebody like me in a position like this,” the 38-year-old exec explained in his Zoom session with reporters on Thursday. “That honestly was super meaningful to me and helped me kind of see that for what it was.”

What that is in Cleveland is a front office led by Andrew Berry, another young black man. It’s a rare occurrence to have two prominent, decision-making roles occupied by people of color in the NFL, a league where more than half the players are non-white.

That’s not lost on Adofo-Mensah.

“I know the league is trying their best,” he said. “It is a complex problem. It is not necessarily always the result of bad intentions. It is just sometimes these things are self-fulfilling feedbacks that continue over time, and it really is hard to break the cycle.”

Adofo-Mensah continued,

“Honestly, it is a cycle that happens throughout the rest of society. The NFL is no different than corporate America or Silicon Valley, where I just came from. I know that the NFL is trying, and I am going to be part of that effort to try and get my two cents of input.”

Former Browns VP Alonzo Highsmith joins the Seahawks

Former Browns VP of Player Personnel Alonzo Highsmith joins the Seahawks after two seasons in Cleveland

Alonzo Highsmith didn’t have to look for work very long. Highsmith has joined the Seattle Seahawks as a member of their scouting department, according to the team’s website. He is listed as a personnel executive.

Highsmith served as the Browns Vice President of Player Personnel under former GM John Dorsey for the 2018-2019 seasons. The 55-year-old former NFL player was let go after Andrew Berry took over as general manager with the Browns.

In Seattle, Highsmith rejoins a front office led by GM John Schneider. The two worked together — with Dorsey — in Green Bay earlier this decade. Earlier rumors of Highsmith heading back to his college alma mater, Miami, proved unfounded.

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ESPN’s 4-round NFL re-draft picks just 3 Lions players

It’s a sobering assessment of the top-end talent at key positions currently on the Lions roster

The NFL Nation writers at ESPN pulled off an interesting exercise, one that shows how analysts from around the nation view the team-building value of players. They did a complete NFL re-draft of teams with a 4-round selection process, using the 2020 NFL Draft order to start and then snaking through the four rounds.

What the teams wound up looking like after the re-draft doesn’t hold much interest for me. But where the players were selected and in what order is pretty enlightening. It shows how little premium talent in its prime the Detroit Lions currently feature based on the scant Lions presence in the re-draft.

Matthew Stafford was the first Lions player to get picked. Stafford was the No. 28 overall player picked, to the Baltimore Ravens. He was the 19th quarterback picked, going after the likes of Drew Lock, Baker Mayfield, Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Darnold.

The second Lions player selected hasn’t even played for the team yet. First-round rookie Jeff Okudah was the next Detroit player plucked. Okudah was selected 113th overall by the Atlanta Falcons.

Wide receiver Kenny Golladay came off the board two picks later. Golladay joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the No. 115 overall pick.

That’s the extent of the Lions action in the 128 players taken. No Trey Flowers, Taylor Decker, Frank Ragnow, Jamie Collins, T.J. Hockenson or Marvin Jones. The goal was to build a Super Bowl winner within five years, and the analysts only found three Lions worthy of contributing to that goal in the 128 players picked. That is a discouraging view on the impact talent in positions deemed critical for the ultimate success currently on the Lions roster.

Listen: ‘All Eyez on Cleveland’ with Browns Wire’s Jeff Risdon

Listen: ‘All Eyez on Cleveland’ with Browns Wire’s Jeff Risdon, talking Berry’s structure, Baker Mayfield, Clowney and more

‘All Eyez on Cleveland Podcast’ with Jeff Risdon, Managing Editor of The Browns Wire and The Lions Wire, Host at ESPN 961, NFL reporter at RealGM, is now available. Listen to show host Brad Ward (@WardonSports) as he talks Cleveland Browns football with the most influential personalities in the Cleveland sports landscape.

On this episode of ‘All Eyez on Cleveland’ –

‘All Eyez on Cleveland’ with guest Jeff Risdon:

Listen: https://soundcloud.com/brad-ward-355479499/all-eyez-on-353186089

Listen(Apple Podcasts): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-eyez-on-cleveland-podcast/id1497838211

Download/Listen: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/alleyezoncleveland/All_Eyez_on_Cleveland_with_guest_Jeff_Risdon.mp3

Web Page: http://alleyezoncleveland.com/all-eyez-on-cleveland-with-guest-jeff-risdon

 

 

Browns release a statement supporting the fight against racism

Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam and several team executives released a statement on the ongoing protests for racial equality and harmony

In response to the ongoing protests stemming from the death of unarmed African-American man George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis last week, the Cleveland Browns released a statement supporting the quest to end racism.

The statement, signed by Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, VP Andrew Berry, head coach Kevin Stefanski and others in the executive office, aims to build the spirit of community and cooperation to overcome the racial and political divides. It was also signed by the Columbus Crew management, which is also owned by the Haslam’s.

From the press release:

Sports can be a great unifier in our communities for what teams do on the field and we must work together to elevate our efforts and our actions to ensure that we can be a positive and productive change agent off the field.

With yet more tragic deaths, we, as a nation and as individuals, must truly create meaningful dialogue, have difficult conversation, demonstrate real empathy and take productive and non-violent action to address injustices.

These are complex issues that no sports team can solve on its own. We can only help create change by working together with our community, our players and our entire region to find solutions.

We take great pride in our city and in our region and recognize the suffering in the African American community throughout the country. Although, we, like many others have worked to advocate for social justice, now more than ever, we must do even more to work collectively to end racism and bond together for justice and equality.

Several Browns players have spoken out supporting the same cause on their own social media outlets.

Breer: Andrew Berry following the Eagles model, not Sashi Brown’s

Albert Breer noted in this week’s MMQB that Browns GM Andrew Berry is following the Eagles model, not Sashi Brown’s. And he’s 100% right.

It’s a very common notion, particularly amongst the gadfly media catering to the browbeaten, to inextricably link new Browns GM Andrew Berry with former GM Sashi Brown. Berry rose through the ranks under Brown, the team’s head personnel man from 2016-2017 and shares the academic, analytics-based background, so it’s an easy connection to make.

But as Albert Breer smartly notes in the latest installment of MMQB on Sports Illustrated, it’s simply not reality. Instead of following in his old boss’s misguided footsteps, Berry is marching down the path plotted by his 2019 team, the Philadelphia Eagles.

It’s something many in the Browns-centric media have been trying to convince a (rightfully) hardened and skeptical fan base for months. The recent moves in the front office confirm that Berry is walking away from Brown’s model, and it’s something Breer highlights in his column,

The new structure is, in fact, one reason why so many of the guys Berry worked with previously had to go—former assistant GM Eliot Wolf and VP of player personnel Alonzo Highsmith would have had to take de facto demotions to make it work. As the Eagles have it, the scouting department is set up in two silos. One is headed up by a VP of player personnel (Andy Weidl), the other by a VP of football operations (Berry’s old role). The former basically leads scouting, the latter everything else (analytics, etc.) In that structure, there was no room for an assistant GM like Wolf, and Highsmith likely would’ve had to be re-assigned to allow for Berry to have his own guy as scouting head (remember, Highsmith was hired over the top of Berry by GM John Dorsey)

Brown’s Browns had a definite bureaucratic kitchen slant to them, with a lot of cooks putting their own flavors into every single dish. It produced a lot of mismanaged, foul-tasting concoctions that would have set Gordon Ramsay into a profane tizzy. That’s not Berry’s way, something that was very evident from how he handled the scouting combine, free agency and the draft.

It’s not a guarantee that Berry’s path will succeed. But emulating a Super Bowl champion franchise is much smarter than leaning on the ways of a system that produced an 0-16 campaign and several regrettable personnel choices.

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Browns announce team facilities will reopen June 1st

Browns announce via public statement that team facilities will reopen on Monday, June 1st

The Cleveland Browns have announced they will open up team facilities for Phase 1 of a return to operating with in-person contact. Phase 1 will begin on Monday, June 1st.

In a public statement from Browns executive VP/COO Dave Jenkins, the team noted that all the requisite benchmarks necessary to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic, as established by both the NFL and the state of Ohio, have been met. Jenkins noted the team continues to work closely with University Hospitals to establish and maintain proper hygiene and preventative measures to protect staffers from COVID-19 infection.

From the statement,

“During the past two weeks, we thoroughly reviewed all of the parameters and recommendations in place to ensure the responsible and safe reopening of our facilities. As planned, they will reopen to a limited number of employees beginning on Monday. We are proud of our entire staff’s collective efforts and productivity while working from home, and our return to the building marks an important step as we continue to diligently prepare for the 2020 season. In addition to adhering to all league and government guidelines, we will continue to evaluate COVID-19 developments with University Hospitals while creating safe environments for when additional Browns employees are permitted to return.”

The initial opening will be limited to a small group of personnel.

Browns hire former WR Rod Streater to the scouting department

Browns hire former WR Rod Streater to the scouting department after a year as an intern

Rod Streater has shed the intern label from his title and is now a full-fledged member of the Cleveland Browns scouting staff. The Browns have hired Streater as a scouting assistant for the 2020 season.

Streater worked for the Browns as a scouting intern in 2019. He played for the Browns as a wide receiver in 2018 before suffering a major neck injury that ended his playing career. Streater played six seasons in the NFL, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. The 32-year-old is a Temple product.

Streater joins a revamped scouting department that also recently moved Glenn Cook into the VP of Player Personnel role under GM Andrew Berry.

Browns promote Glenn Cook to VP of Player Personnel

Browns promote Glenn Cook to VP of Player Personnel, replacing Alonzo Highsmith

The Cleveland Browns promoted Glenn Cook up the personnel ladder within the team’s front office. Cook, who has been been the Assistant Director of Pro Scouting, will now assume the role of VP of Player Personnel.

The promotion effectively replaces Alonzo Highsmith, who was not retained by new GM Andrew Berry. Cook has been with the Browns since 2016. Like his predecessor, he joined the Browns after working with the Green Bay Packers and played college football at Miami.

He’s worked as a pro scout as well as an advance scout, focused more on the Browns’ opponents than the collegiate scouting realm.

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