CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 29, 2019: General manager John Dorsey of the Cleveland Browns on the field prior to a preseason game against the Detroit Lions on August 29, 2019 at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland won 20-16. (Photo by: 2019 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
Just days after firing head coach Freddie Kitchens, the Cleveland Browns are moving on without their GM as the cycle of dysfunction continues under Jimmy Haslam.
The Cleveland Browns are looking for their 12th different head coach since rejoining the league in 1999, and now it looks like they will also be searching for a new General Manager. John Dorsey, who assembled the core of this roster that some considered a potential division winner at the beginning of the season, is reportedly on his way out as Browns’ owner Jimmy Haslam plans a radical reconstruction of the organization.
The Browns originally hired Dorsey in December of 2017 after firing Sashi Brown, and Dorsey did a good job restocking the franchise with talent. Dorsey drafted cornerstone players like Myles Garrett, Baker Mayfield, and Denzel Ward in recent years, and brought in stars like Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry via trade.
That wasn’t enough to impress Haslam, who is reportedly restructuring the organization to give more power to Paul DePodesta, who is the Browns’ chief strategy officer.
DePodesta was a part of the previous regime and has very little football experience, spending all of his time prior to this position as a baseball executive with teams like the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite his role in a rebuilding process that saw Cleveland go 4-28 in two years before Dorsey took over, Haslam is entrusting DePodesta as one of the chief pieces in snapping the Browns’ long playoff drought.
This screams of absolute desperation and dysfunction from Haslam, who let Dorsey fire Freddie Kitchens and start scheduling interviews with coaching candidates before deciding to restructure his entire organization. Matt Rhule, a prominent candidate in this hiring cycle, has already refused an interview request and anyone with options will stay far away from this mess.
The fact that Haslam doesn’t trust a GM who brought so much talent into the organization to choose the right coach is alarming. The idea that DePodesta, who has been in football for a grand total of four years, is now going to be one of the most prominent voices in the room could continue to set the Browns back for years.