The Browns' plan isn't working, the rift is real, and Jimmy Haslam still needs help to save it: Mary Kay Cabot
Updated on October 17, 2017 at 5:32 PM Posted on October 17, 2017 at 5:16 PM
By Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Jimmy Haslam's plan for the Browns isn't working, the discord between the coaching staff and top brass is real, and he still needs an experienced talent evaluator to come in and help save it.
I wrote it last December and I'm repeating it here: A personnel trio devoid of anyone who's ever assembled a winning football team isn't going to fly.
The Browns have already whiffed on two potential star quarterbacks in Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson, and are in jeopardy of blowing it again in the QB-rich 2018 draft if they don't find someone with a track record for picking players.
The current trio of Executive Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown, Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta and Vice President of Player Personnel Andrew Berry was deficient from the start, and now they're 1-21 in their second season of a rebuild that was never necessary in the first place.
Perennial contenders don't have to "take it down to the studs'' and trade away from franchise quarterbacks to build a roster. They find players in the draft, free agency, on the street and other teams' rosters. They keep their own good players such as center Alex Mack, Mitchell Schwartz and receiver Taylor Gabriel.
The nine players they've drafted so far from the Wentz trade are mostly "just guys'' who didn't need to come at the expense of a franchise quarterback.
There's no way the Browns should be 1-21 after having 24 draft picks in the last two seasons and more cap space than they know what to do with. They never expected to go 1-15 last season, and they certainly never envisioned 0-6 this year.
But they're 1-21 -- and losing fans in droves -- because the roster isn't good enough to win. What's more, they haven't even been competitive in two of their last three games.
The argument for building up the roster before drafting the franchise QB is flawed. We've been hearing that for years, including from former general manager Ray Farmer, and yet the supporting cast is still poor -- including a receiving corps that could've been top-notch right now with a couple of smart moves.
No, this is how it's done:
You take the franchise quarterback when he's staring you in the face, and worry about the details later.
And if this complete two-year teardown was the plan all along, they never let Hue Jackson in on it. He came in with a promise to win right away, and refused to call it a rebuild, only a "retool."
Related: Doug Lesmerises writes that the plan is working well
If DeShone Kizer doesn't prove to be the franchise quarterback Jackson still believes he can be, the best the Browns can hope for is that a quarterback such as a USC's Sam Darnold or UCLA's Josh Rosen can come in next year and start to dig them out of this hole. But there's no guarantee they'll even be as good Wentz or Watson.
Even if a Darnold or Rosen can start winning in 2019, was it worth two years of record-setting losses that alienated fans, wasted people's money -- and wouldn't have happened if they had taken a Wentz, a Watson, or acquired a quality veteran?
Furthermore, the blown picks and missed opportunities have created so much discord between the front office and coaching staff that they can't co-exist beyond this season in their current state.
Haslam -- who's 15-55 since officially taking over as owner in 2013 and 4-39 since a 7-4 start in 2014 -- will have no choice but to fix it.
Why the executive team is lacking
Haslam's first mistake was putting Brown in charge of all roster decisions when that's not his area of expertise. He's a lawyer and salary-cap expert who came from a Jaguars team that didn't have a winning season in his final five years there.
He's more team president material than final-say GM.
If Brown were to have control of the roster, he needed an accomplished evaluator by his side. Instead, Haslam brought in DePodesta from the Mets. If DePodesta wanted to break into football, so be it. But Haslam put a baseball guy in charge of his football team.
DePodesta was still coming up the steep learning curve when the Browns made the egregious error of passing on Wentz last year. To make matters worse, he told ESPN Cleveland that the Browns didn't think Wentz would be a top-20 quarterback, effectively announcing that their ability to evaluate the position is suspect.
The Browns did hire their "football guy" in Berry, but he was a rising 28-year-old talent and former Colts pro scouting coordinator who was nowhere near ready to be a team's leading football authority.
Haslam should've learned from making Farmer the GM way too soon that it's too big a job for a rookie, unless he's paired with a star exec such as an Ozzie Newsome.
The other major flaw on the executive team was that Haslam put himself in charge of overseeing it, a job he's not qualified for.
Had he hired a good overseer, preferably one with Super Bowl experience, he may have been able to head off the rift.
A deep divide
The lack of an experienced top personnel exec has created a power vacuum over the roster, including the draft.
When the coaches know more about football talent than the top personnel execs, that's a problem.
When the two sides clash, there's no one qualified to break the tie.
All anyone had to do was read Michael Silver's post-draft piece on NFL.com to know that the powers-that-be weren't on the same page on draft day, during which Silver was embedded at the Browns' facility.
The biggest battle was over the No. 1 pick. The coaches fought for and got Myles Garrett, while at least some in the front office really wanted Mitch Trubisky.
The Browns' top three quarterbacks were Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes and Watson, likely in that order. If the Chiefs hadn't leapfrogged them and taken Mahomes at No. 10, the Browns may have taken him at No. 12.
As for Watson, the Browns apparently didn't have him high enough on their board to take him at 12, even though they really liked him. In fact, according, to Silver's piece, Jackson wanted Ohio State safety Malik Hooker there.
Regardless, passing on Watson could prove to be another colossal blunder. Watson has already made history as the first rookie QB in the Super Bowl era to throw at least three touchdown passes in three consecutive games, and the Texans are ecstatic about their QB.
Granted, Watson must stand the test of time, but he's currently making the Browns look bad. If he keeps winning, the value of the Browns' extra 2018 first-round pick from that trade will plummet.
A series of unfortunate events
But Wentz and Watson aren't the only mistakes or points of contention inside the building.
The coaching staff and front office are also at odds over the lack of receivers and other key positions. Both Kizer, who will likely start again Sunday, and Kevin Hogan have found out the hard way that it's tough to win a game with few or no quality targets.
Free-agent pickup Kenny Britt (groin) is on the mend and in the doghouse, but might have to play this week for lack of anyone better. In the past two seasons, the Browns have blown chances to keep or acquire Terrelle Pryor, Taylor Gabriel, Jeremy Maclin, Marvin Jones and more.
Instead, they banked on their 2016 draft picks such as injury-prone Corey Coleman, Ricardo Louis and Rashard Louis stepping it up, and they haven't.
As for the quarterback position, in addition to missing on Wentz and Watson, the Browns never made a serious run at Jimmy Garoppolo, or A.J. McCarron, and they cut Josh McCown, who's starting for the Jets. The only experienced QB they acquired was Brock Osweiler, whom they're paying $16 million this year to play for the Broncos.
A good veteran could've won this year or at least kept the seat warm for Kizer. Instead, Jackson went into the season with three young QBs who had never won a game as a starter. While the front office still likes Cody Kessler, Jackson has no plans to play him.
Sources says the coaches were also miffed that the Browns traded linebacker Demario Davis back to the Jets, where he's No. 3 in the NFL in tackles; and cut cornerback Joe Haden, who's now winning with the Steelers.
As for the Browns' 14 draft picks in 2016, about five are starting, but for a team that can't win a game. Others were unnecessary. If the Browns had kept right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, they wouldn't have had to spend a third-round pick on Shon Coleman.
Of the nine players the Browns have drafted so far from the Wentz trade and its spinoffs, none is yet making it worthwhile: Corey Coleman, Shon Coleman, Kessler, Louis, safety Derrick Kindred, receiver Jordan Payton (out of football), offensive lineman Spencer Drango, Jabrill Peppers and Kizer.
Of the Browns' 10 picks in 2017, Garrett looks like a stud, and four others are showing promise: first-rounders Jabrill Peppers and David Njoku; Kizer; and defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi. But the final grade won't be in for a few years.
They have another 13 picks in the QB-rich 2018 draft, including two first-rounders and three in the second, but they can't load up the roster again with another bunch of rookies. It's already the youngest team in the league -- missing that core middle tier -- and suffering because of it.
Profootballtalk.com reported Sunday that the Browns have begun reaching out to front-office candidates, a report the Browns say is "false and erroneous."
One logical choice would be Haslam's good friend Peyton Manning, whom WKYC-TV reported was in Cleveland last week, but for unknown reasons. Sources tell cleveland.com it had nothing to do with a Browns job.
Even if Haslam could lure Manning, he'd have to surround himself with experienced personnel execs and he'd likely need a piece of the team to even consider it.
Whether it's Manning or someone else, Haslam still needs the right person to step in and help salvage this team.
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