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Scheiner may be one of the bigger problems to add to the list of Cleveland Browns issues....



Alec Scheiner reportedly meddling in Browns trade rumors

byWill Gibson
NOVEMBER 3,2015
John Kuntz/NEOMG John Kuntz/NEOMG


The trade rumors surrounding the Cleveland Browns, it seems, are real. Joe Thomas, Alex Mack, Paul Kruger, and Barkevious Mingo have all reportedly been placed on the trading block, and reports are starting to surface about the Browns’ asking prices.

ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi says that the Browns and Denver Broncos had discussed a trade for Thomas earlier in the season, after Denver’s left tackle Ryan Clady went down with a torn ACL. It is unclear exactly when this discussion took place. Clady suffered his injury in late May during organized team activities.

According to a source, the Browns had talks with the Denver Broncos early in the season after Denver lost left tackle Ryan Clady to injury in the preseason. The Broncos were willing to part with their first-round pick in 2016, but the Browns also asked for second-year linebacker Shaq Barrett, and that apparently killed the deal.
Other reports and rumblings seem to confirm that the Browns are asking for a first-round pick and then some for Thomas.

Mack, meanwhile, has an unusual, player-friendly contract that features a no-trade clause as well as an opt-out after this season. He said in a statement that he would not waive the no-trade clause, which is a somewhat tepid endorsement considering that he could leave as a free agent after eight more games.

“I’m not leaving my teammates, coaches and Browns fans while there is work this season to be finished,” Mack wrote.

Mack’s contract has three more years to run, but it includes an opt-out clause after 2015 to become a free agent. Of course, Mack wouldn’t say if he would leave his teammates after this year.
Aside from Ian Rapoport’s tweet above, there isn’t as much to say about potential deals for either Barkevious Mingo or Paul Kruger. Mingo’s agent spoke up earlier this season to say that his client wasn’t getting enough playing time. Kruger said that he wasn’t surprised by his inclusion in trade rumors, in part because of how he has been used on the field.

Per Tony Grossi, the Browns are looking to trade players for draft picks. Team president Alec Scheiner — who is in charge of business operations, not football ops — has reportedly been a leading voice in this strategy.

A league source confirmed the team has actively engaged in discussions to acquire “assets” – draft picks — by trading players no longer in the team’s future plans. The source said the person pushing this strategy is President Alec Scheiner, who appears to have gained inroads in football operations.

As General Manager Ray Farmer and coach Mike Pettine stumble through individually trying seasons, Scheiner has become the loudest voice in the ear of owner Jimmy Haslam, said the source.
This is not the first time that Scheiner has been reported to have pull with Haslam. A story by CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora — from February of this year — portrays Scheiner as getting increasingly involved with the football side of things. Haslam is compared unfavorably to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and Browns headquarters are painted as a disorganized mess.

Alec Scheiner, the team president who grew in power and influence a year ago after Banner and Lombardi were shown the door after just one season together, has become a divisive figure in the organization as well, gaining an increasing voice in personnel matters, well beyond just analytics.

“Jimmy is way too hands on,” said one team source. “He’s like Jerry Jones, only without the football knowledge. There’s tension between Alec and [head coach Mike] Pettine. Everybody sees that. Alec is involved in everything; it’s too much for him. There are no divisions. The guys on the business side want to run football operations. The GM wants to coach the team and have input on play calling. Jimmy calls the shots, and everyone is afraid of him with that quick trigger finger. If you stand up to Jimmy, he’s done with you. Jimmy’s own worst enemy is Jimmy.”

“It’s a mess,” another team source said. “Everyone is trying to do everyone else’s job. It’s crazy.”
After that story broke in February, Scheiner denied that he was seeking more involvement in the Browns’ football operations. Haslam echoed those sentiments, saying that Scheiner ran the business side and that the team’s on- and off-field branches were getting along in perfect harmony.

Story continued in link.

Link

Additional problems in Berea?

Has anyone ever tested Berea's water?

This much dysfunction, ineptitude and stupidity in every single regime we've ever had since 1999? This defies all laws of numbers and probability. For the exact same set of symptoms to appear in 5 different personnel combinations is cause for concern. Real concern.

It's gotta be something in the water.
It's the only explanation that makes any sense of this.


________________



Football is supposed to be entertainment. The drama is supposed to be played out on the field... not in the freakking offices!!!!!

The only thing these guys ever give me is a soap opera.
Soaps are for housewives. I find nothing entertaining about people in suits bickering and jockeying for power they're unqualified to wield.


I'm getting really close, folks. Really close.

It will be sad, because I've always been loyal to my friends and passions. But this has now become an emotionally abusive relationship. A one-sided, "I give everything and get nothing back" kind of relationship.... and I have too much self respect to let it continue.

I've walked away from romantic relationships because of it. I've dumped people who I thought were friends because of it. And I'm still here in one piece, with reasonably good mental heath. In other words, I survived just well without them.

So, it will be sad. And then it won't.
And then it will be alright.

I'll casually watch them from time to time like I did in college and get a decent chunk of my life back.

Yeah. I can see me doing this more and more.

.02

Let's go root for Buffalo!

Not really having all of the details ..... no.

If the Browns were asking for the LB they reportedly like, 2 firsts, and 2 seconds and more ..... then I would trade anyone on the team for that.

Who knows how close to a truly ridiculous deal they really were. I am sure that Dallas took abuse for trading away Hershel Walker ..... until people saw what they got for him. Get a deal like that for Thomas, and I'd be good with it.

Add another reason we're one oflauging stocks of the NFL. Everybody is clowning us, one even thinking about trading Thomas, and then not even being able to get it done cause we ran out of time.

Being a Browns fan. Testing our loyalty every single year.

I'm with you on this one. I'd trade him based on the return, but Elway wasn't willing to give us a "Walker" type deal. It's much like how Antonetti playfully put out Carassco to see what attention he'd draw.

However...Farmer apparently had a 4th rounder on the table along with Thomas. That's ridiculous.

If people are going to bash Farmer for the JT trade rumors and take them as gospel, you better damn well be taking these rumors seriously too.

But Clem, we are relying on "team sources". That's so vague as to be likely worthless, misleading, or at best, unreliable. Who to believe?

Farmer's thought was, "Well I'll screw up that 4th pick anyway, might as well toss it in".

Clem is right. It reads like a soap opera.

I am not even sure what to say about all of this. It's almost beyond my comprehension. How can one franchise constantly be so dysfunctional? It doesn't seem to matter who the owner is. Who the team president is. Who the GM is. Who the coach is. It's constant dysfunction.

Do you really think they could give their names after making those types of quotes? LOL

I always tell my wife, EVERYTHING I own is for sale....For the right price. Things I am more attached to have a much higher price, well beyond their true value, but if you're willing to pay it, you can have it.

Apathy, Vers. Welcome it. Embrace it. Learn to love it.

If things ever turn around, then dig out the passion from the closet, dust it off, and wear it.

No other fanbase has earned the right to "walk away and come back when it's better" than Browns fans.

The Browns listened to their offer, said they wanted more to even consider it, then nothing happened.

Seems about right.

I've been thinking about that. I have been thinking similar things to what Clem is mulling over, too.

I'm not an apathetic type of guy. I don't have a clue as to "just not care" or "walk away."

But man, this team sucks the life out of me.

I suppose this all fits the profile of a dysfunctional organization. You have all these ambitious wannabes, and none of them know how to "stay in their own lane" - you know, just do their own damn job. I've seen this in the workplace and it stems from a weak leader.

On the other hand ... this story is a blogger quoting an ESPN analyst (Grossi) who quoted an unnamed source that was speaking of Scheiner's interfering ways. That's sloppy as hell. It doesn't mean its not true, but IMO, if Grossi is going to level charges as explosive as "Finance guy interferring with football ops" then he really needs to come up with a source willing to put his name on it. My guess? Bernie Kosar, because I've heard things like this come out of his mouth when he was interviewed on the radio. BK may well be "in the know", but he is not a Browns' insider, so this story needs to be questioned.

That's a good point Dave.

I truly believe Grossi has zero sources on the team. All you have to do is read his work and listen to his interviews. He has no more inside knowledge than people on this board.

So he parrots others thoughts quite a bit and is constantly speculating on anything negative.

Well...........I guess we can tell ourselves that and become convinced that this team is not dysfunctional and we are indeed on the right path.

Gee, I am so happy now.

well a little more than that if they had joe agent involved.

I'm not saying that. There's obviously issues. But Grossi really has to be taken with a grain of salt. For the last two or three years, I've listened to Grossi nearly everyday at 7am PST on the RBS on my way into work. He really, truly has no inside sources. You can tell.

We know things are bad. We know there's dysfunction. We know the guys in the building are likely not competent enough. But everything ...and the magnitude in which Grossi takes things...should be questioned a little bit, IMO.

Consider this: Perhaps you're looking at the wrong side of the equation. Is there a chance that any "dysfunction" is not at the team's side, but rather on us, as fans, who perceive and interpret things incorrectly?

Did they?

I'd say that pretty much all of the local media are pumping the same dry hole for information. I doubt any of them have much in the way of sources because the Browns are buttoned-up so tight.

<<mixed metaphor alert>>

Of course not! But do you believe everything you hear third or fourth-hand? Particularly when you don't know the "quality" of the source...

yea. read somewhere that guaranteed money was talked about so that would mean reworking the contract.

No, not really. It's not like our best player is increasing our win total. It's not like our QB isn't getting beat up. It's not like our running backs have huge holes to run through.

I don't want to see Joe go, but if you look at it simply from an asset standpoint, it is always smart to sell high. I am not one of these people who desire seeing players retire a Brown. Nice if it happens, but I would rather get something rather than watch as said player goes in to decline.

That's exactly right.. So are they dumb just because some idiot reporter reports something that is indeed dumb. Or are they smart for not taking the dumb deal?

Damn, sometimes things so darn crazy around here.

They DIDN'T make the deal. Enough

The only thing I read about 're-working' contracts was what the Broncos were doing with their own players to fit in Thomas' deal. It was an Adam Schefter tweet yesterday just before the deadline. I think others than follow up and said it wasn't about that or the timing--it was strictly compenation (draft picks) for Thomas.

And that folks, is the bottom line. Farmer pursuing all angles, turning over every stone. I would suggest that if Farmer didn't at least, look into a potential deal for JT, then he's not doing his job...

I agree. Clay Matthews didn't retire as a Brown after what, 15 years? With that said, I do think that at 30 yrs old, Joe is too young to let go for anything less than a king's ransom - he's still in his prime, IMO. These guys (LT's) play for 15-16 years, if they stay healthy. Maybe when he's 33 or 34, you'd consider dealing him for the right package.

Yep, the fans are to blame for the Browns losing every year.

Great call. How very perceptive.

Well, we don't all know that there are issues. 32 is making it sound like Farmer is doing a great job and the fans are to blame. LOL man..........this place is bizarre.

Look, I don't like Grossi. I haven't for a long, long time. I loved Belichick when he was here and Grossi ripped unmercifully. So yeah, I haven't trusted him for a long time. I think he is an arrogant jerk who believes he knows more about football than the people in charge do.

With that said, the reports of guys not having distinct roles and guys like Scheiner interfering ring true. Shanny didn't make a 32 pt presentation out of thin air.

I think that each guy should have a role and you are going to have big-time problems when those roles are not clear.

I don't want Scheiner to be involved in personnel decisions. I don't want Farmer involved in coaching decisions. I don't want Haslam pretending he is Jerry Jones.

Look at our last two drafts. They have been horrific. Perhaps that is due to having too many voices on whom we should take? Look at what we are doing in free agency. We don't sign our younger guys and we replace them w/older guys.

Something stinks in Berea!

In addition, a holdup on converting Thomas' remaining salary for 2016 and '17 into guarantees also prevented the trade from getting done, a source involved with the process told Rapoport.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...e-falls-through

In his presser yesterday, Farmer alluded to his (and, we assume, the Browns') style of management - by consensus. I've worked for this type of individual and it really lends itself to a lack of accountability for all involved, because nobody is responsible. It was decided ... by consensus. They say "a camel is a horse created by a committee", and I believe that because I've seen it in my job. Good (and great) leaders gather information from those around them and make a unilateral decision based on that info. That brings true accountability to all levels, with ultimate responsibility being at the top. The Ray Farmers of the world, when asked to explain our bollixed drafts would say "well, we all agreed on it.". No accountability.

Oh, and BTW, the scariest thing Farmer said at his presser was, when he was asked how things would get turned around: "Keep doing what we're doing.". Yikes.

I agree with this, peen.

This is a general reply and not directed at anyone: I did have a problem with the rumored compensation. Or one of them.

Denver's 1st and 2nd round picks are practically 2nd and 3rd round. And our 4th round pick will be practically a 3rd.

And, as I said before, giving Farmer extra high picks is like ... don't remember exactly. Giving a rocket launcher to Barney Fife or something along those lines.