DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum The Browns rebuild is over, and now John Dorsey’s job gets difficult: Doug Lesmerises

INDIANAPOLIS -- John Dorsey fixed it, and that was the easy part.

Ride into the middle of 1-31, pick the quarterback at No. 1, use the extra first-rounder and extra second-rounder in the 2018 draft, spin a couple smart trades, spend some money and fire the coach. He spent the last year stacking the blocks that had been laid at his feet. He fixed the franchise that had been obviously broken.

Now comes the hard part. The Browns are turning the corner, and Dorsey will begin the process of doing two things at once.

Sashi Brown sacrificed two seasons in the present to plan for the future. Dorsey arrived and focused on fixing the now, with plenty of room to maneuver. Dorsey currently is combining those two approaches, entering the era of winning and planning, of making the playoffs this season and maintaining a winner long-term.

“Every year we want to win, that’s the overarching goal,” Dorsey said Thursday at the NFL combine. “But I’m not going to go and waste a whole bunch of money, because I have to think three and four years down the road. I can’t just think of the immediate future, I’ve got to think three or four years.”

As the saying goes, Man Plans, Jimmy Haslam Laughs. Ask former Browns employees about long-term plans.

But this is how Dorsey must think, and what he must do. He can absolutely create sustained success here, while also taking the shots at the right time to get the Browns to their first Super Bowl. But that’s so much more complex than what he’s faced so far, and he’s preparing to do it his own way.

The initial four-year plan from when Brown was hired as GM has about run its course. Brown was fired in year two. He’ll speak at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference on Saturday in his first public appearance since his firing, though he’ll focus on the discussion of analytics and won’t speak specifically to his time in Cleveland. Meanwhile, former vice president of player personnel Andrew Berry just left the Browns for the Philadelphia Eagles. Paul DePodesta remains for now. Whatever the debate is about analytics, this is Dorsey’s show, his guys, his way, his plan.

“I think right now, we have some really talented guys in that building,” Dorsey said. “We’re all working together in unison, and that’s what you want, the coaches and the personnel staff to be working in unison and have that degree of trust. There’s a good relationship going on right now."

When his four-year run in Kansas City ended, any criticism of his tenure focused on two aspects: communication and salary cap management. But check the results. The Chiefs were 2-14 the year Dorsey arrived, then 11-5, 9-7, 11-5 and 12-4. They went 10-6 and 12-4 in the two years since he left. As others have said, salary cap space is something bad teams brag about.

Dorsey made some rash money moves with the Chiefs that forced him to dump some popular veterans. However, he replaced them with smart draft picks. Winning is winning. And his teams won.

In his time between Kansas City and Cleveland, he worked on a 25-page plan that he showed Mary Kay Cabot called “31 Core Competencies Used in Rebuilding and Sustaining Success in the NFL."

Dorsey probably would disagree with this characterization, but the rebuilding part is over. This is the start of sustaining.

You can tell it’s the end of the rebuild by the way everyone poo-poos last season’s seven wins. I don’t think the Browns should think of themselves as 7-8-1 last year. I think they were 5-3, because what’s the point of counting anything from the Hue Jackson-Tyrod Taylor-Carlos Hyde-Desmond Harrison Browns, when you’re now the Freddie Kitchens-Baker Mayfield-Nick Chubb-Greg Robinson Browns that developed in the second half of 2018?

Dorsey disagreed, claiming Kitchens would point us toward the quote, “You are your record.”

Really? Not 5-3?

“I’ll stick with that,” Dorsey said. He’ll also stick by his previous claim that he won’t spend drunkenly in free agency. But he should at least get a little buzzed.

Dorsey held up his cell phone during his Thursday news conference and joked that he was ready to listen on trades for Antonio Brown or Odell Beckham. Then in serious roster-building discussion, he downplayed the need for a superstar acquisition and leaned on old adages about requiring good players in every roster spot.

But I don’t believe him. Currently possessing the fifth-most cap space in the league according to overthecap.com, Dorsey isn’t going to tell us when he’s going to spend. But I think he will. I think he’ll throw back a few more salary cap shots than he’s letting on.

“I don’t think we’re a team yet to go for it,” Dorsey said. “We have a young talented team. Let’s build a foundation here. Let’s build a team of substance. But we’re not done yet in terms of getting this thing right.”

Again, don’t believe him. I think the Browns are at the point to go for it, while Mayfield and Myles Garrett are young and talented and relatively cheap. The Rams went for it in a major way last year by acquiring several pricey veterans. The Patriots beat them in the Super Bowl with their consistent, methodically brilliant roster plan. Dorsey doesn’t have to jump quite like the Rams did. But he also can’t be as patient as the Patriots.

Expect him to land in the middle, but leaning toward going for it. He’s just not going to tip his hand on that.

“I think you’ll know when the time is ready,” Dorsey said. “But right now, what we’re trying to do is plan for the ’19 season with the future in mind as well.”

The time is now. And later.

“We want to be competitive in the AFC North year in and year out, and we’re going to do that,” Dorsey said.

The Browns will compete. They also have to get over the top at the right time.

“We’re almost done with the plan,” Dorsey said. “So let’s see if we can stay true and stay consistent with that plan as we go into the start of the league year.”

Dorsey can do it. Two things at the same time. Follow his instincts and learn his lessons. Go for it. And sustain it.

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2019/03...lesmerises.html

This guy has to be the worst sports writer around. He never ceases to amaze me w/how clueless he is. His obvious bias on certain positions are very irritating. There are so many thing wrong w/this article. Amazingly putrid.

How to respond to this article.
The Rebuild is never over, really in NFL nothing is ever over cept maybe if you are the current Super Bowl Champions.

thinking 2019?? Don't forget kicker, (man we were spoiled with Phil Dawson, way back when)

Current Kicker, is still not one of the better in the league.

Don't pass on real players.

( ehh!) Am I the only Browns fan that is just SO OVER offseason articles that say we should be happy, when they still nearly never make the playoffs.

OFFSEASON HYPE! GO AWAY!

Continue to Not Pass On Real Players!

Start to actually prove you can; Stop Cutting Veteran Leaders.

To a small extent: Players don't matter as much as, How the team Plays does.

Dang... We're gonna win it all this year!

Putrid is the word for it.. when I saw the byline I almost didn't read it - but I did , wish I hadn't.

I don't know. We have a lot of options to choose from for this "award."

Was a rather "meh" article.

:-p
You're not wrong, but I'm more inclined to agree with Vers. This article was dumb. The rebuild is most assuredly not over. We need to bolster certain starting positions as well as add depth basically everywhere else. I'm assuming the writer of this article didn't watch any of our games. If he had, he should've seen that. We have areas of the team and players to get excited about, but that doesn't mean we're done rebuilding.

Also, he glosses over the fact that we've worked our way into bounties of picks before, and came away without much to show for it (in the way of talent). Dorsey made good picks, and he had a lot of picks. We don't have as many picks this year, but making good picks with the ammo you have is still the same target... and Dorsey has established a track record of doing just that more often than not.

This article writer managed to get both sides of the coin wrong in one article.

If fixing it was the easy part, then why hadn't it been done already?

Right off the bat we got, "Sashi died so we could live". I see why it was posted. But you don't rebuild a team in one year. Any fool knows that.

I contend the plan was to tank the entire time. You don't roll out Cody Kessler whose best weapon is Terell Pryor and think, yep this is what winning looks like.


The plan was always to tank. Sashi didn't die so we could live, he was a part of the plan to tank.

I certainly don't want to "sustain" 7-8-1. I don't even want to sustain a mythical 10-6. I want to take the next steps that are necessary to win the Super Bowl, and then to become the next New England Patriots style dynasty.

The name sounds super familiar, didnt he used to be the O state writer?

Yes

He comes across as one of the over eager fans that only really knows football the game, and doesnt really understand the front office aspect. The average fan who has no idea about contracts, and salary cap, building rosters etc.

Care to explain the RG3 signing and trading up for Kizer ...

Kessler was 3rd string behind RG3 and McCown ... u “forgot” to mention that ...

Please explain the RG3 signing and trading up for DK if tanking was the plan ...

And I’m pretty sure that Corey Coleman was suppose to be the ”guy” not TP or maybe it was one of the other 3 WR’s Sashi drafted in that AWESOME WR CLASS ... dang .. i forgot just how good sashi was .. *L* ...

That ones easy bro .....

HORRIBLE HIRES starting with Lerner bringing in the Don (Policy) to make sure he was awarded the team ... i said it the day the official board actually opened .. he was a HORRIBLE HIRE .... i was way less poplar then than i am now when i stuck to my guns on that one ... it was UGLY ... they actually wanted to vote to have me kicked off the board because i was a troll and not a fan ... *L* .... thats when we found out we had someone from the browns org keeping on an eye on the place ...

It got no better after that and was topped off by the thief thinking he’d revolutionize how front offices worked by bringing in a lawyer and an analytics guy to run the personal department ... there was a pretty low bar when the thief took over and he managed to lower it quite a bit .. no easy feat .. *L* ...

LOL.....very true.

I'm not going to go through the entire article, but just look at the beginning where he says the easy part is done and now comes the hard part.

I would like know who in the hell predicted that Dorsey would take Baker at one, Ward at four, and Chubb in the second round? That was "easy?"

Was stealing Landry from Miami and Randall from GB easy? Was taking a chance on Callaway easy? Was finding Avery easy? Was finding teams willing to trade for duds like Hogan and Kessler easy?

Man, how clueless can one person be? I wonder how he has a job????

Yet they still gave you VIP passes to training camp. What the hell man!

Nope.

I don't think he's necessarily suggesting he wants to sustain a specific mediocre record. I think he's been a fan long enough to know we've gone 9-7 and then went crappy. We went 10-6 and then went crappy. We even went 7-9 with a glimmer of hope only to go crappy again. Not very many teams sustain greatness, and I think that's what he's getting at...

Oh man ... those were the days ....

Ice cream and slushies and SHADE .... *L* .... then comfie ass busses and lunch at the stadium with a tour and back in time for the 2nd practice ....

Dang, they sure spoiled us ... *L* ...

Because i was a moderator we also got game ticks once a year and another goodie ... one year it was jerseys ... i got a Courtney brown jersey ..... another year it was backpacks with the dawg logo ... that only lasted the first few year then Amy defected to the Stilers ... *L* ... the goodies stopped then ... she ROCKED ...

Yes she did! It was nice to see a team be so gracious to their fans. I mean we were already huge fans on Dawg talk. They already had us as fans. They went the extra mile doing something they didn't need to do.

They have a long way to go, for anyone to say the rebuild is over is insane.. Just insane

I don't think he is necessarily saying it was easy, per se. Doing what these guys do isn't "easy" and I don't think that's what he's saying. But you have to admit Dorsey had a much better situation than any other GM.

Perhaps rebuild is the wrong term. I don't think there's much left to rebuild. There isn't anything left to tear down and build back up. From now on we are building to sustain a relevant future.

You have your:

Franchise QB
Franchise pass rusher
Young cover CB
Young RB
Young TE
Young LB (Schobert) and vet LB (Kirksey)
Both starting safeties
One 3T interior rusher
Best interior offensive line in the NFL

Can we still add more pieces? Sure, but so can any team in any given year. The bulk of this team's transformation has been executed.

We don't have far to go. In fact, we're already there.

Agreed.

I would love to grab, if the draft stars are aligned, a CB opposite Ward, a #1 WR or even a LT prospect better than Robinson with some of the early picks in the draft.

I think the past two drafts have been particularly good in the early rounds:
Garrett, Peppers, Njoku, Ogunjobi, Mayfield, Ward, & Chubb. Goodness, that filled a lot of holes after the tear down.

I tend to agree with Doug Lesmerises on the high FA spending possibility that Dorsey may be saying one thing while trying to position himself for another. I hoping Dorsey signs one, maybe two, big-ish names (generally speaking, a mid-20s guy seeking a 2nd contract and not some 30+ veteran with a big name for big money) and depth where he sees fit. I haven't looked at the FA list yet but will do soon. I really have no clue who is all available.

Additionally, some extensions for players already here would also be encouraged IMO

Poor article IMO. Lousy "insights" from this mindreader. Just a valueless read for me.

I agree.

It isn't complete. We still need to paint the place and install the carpet, but the building is in order.

Amy was fantastic. (not to mention, quite good looking, as well)

I can't remember the name of the guy who took over for her when she left, but he was really good too. He was the only one who said "here is my home number. Call me if there are ever any problems with the board, day or night." I don't think that he was counting on me blowing the board up one Friday evening. He was cool about it though. Monday morning, he put the backup back up, and all was right with the world. I think that he was the guy who would have done the most for the board, and fans, if the darn Browns hadn't promoted him.

Are you willing to say whether the plan for 2019 is to tank or not before they actually play it?

Looking back in time is so passé.

And No Team Ever Planned to Tank, it just doesn't happen.

I disagree. NBA teams have been doing it for years. So have MLB teams. Football is behind the times in team building.

Sometimes you just best start over or be stuck in the lower middle.


I suppose part of that is football has 22 starting players. Basketball 5, and baseball 12-13. I say 12-13 since you have 4-5 starting pitchers in the rotation..

j/c:

I think people are getting way ahead of themselves. Tanking in any sport has never really worked. Philly hasn't won a title. The A's didn't win a title.

Also, acting like Njoku and Peppers are studs is a joke. They're okay, but haven't lived up to their draft status.

The Browns still have quite a bit of work to do. We saw that when they played quality teams last year like the Chiefs and Chargers. They also got handled by a Houston team that was outmatched in their playoff game.

I like what Dorsey has done, but there is more work to be done.

JC:

The Cavs won a title after tanking for four years. They also went to multiple finals.

I agree. They are close but not there yet. The one thing they have achieved, IMO, is they are now in a position to build depth.Good teams have it, we don't, yet. But we are in a position that we all have talked about before, and that is a place where signing a few good FAs could put you over the top. That is a good feeling, and will only happen when the depth behind the starters is not a big drop off, like it has been for years.

How did the Spurs get Tim Duncan?

I know you like to joke around. I'm assuming this is one of those times. Right?

I agree w/you. We're trending in the right direction.

I am not saying this is the proper attitude, but I like to use caution when assessing how good our team will be. I've been using that approach for years and have repeatedly claimed that when teams don't live up to the fan's expectations, coaches and even FO guys get fired.

We still have a lot of question marks because our roster is so young. Heck, our qb is making headlines for the places he is visiting and who he is hanging with rather than working on his game. It blows my mind that he said he doesn't need to work w/a qb guru.

Our coaching staff is a big unknown. Do you really think that Bill Belichick would tell a rookie qb to "get away from football?" LOL

I know it doesn't sound like it in this post, but I am hopeful. I am just cautious because there are quite a few unknowns at this point and I am voicing those concerns because it seems like a lot of people are already proclaiming that we have this and we have that.

I say....we may have this and we may have that. I think the odds are good, but it's not certain.

Also, I am not bad-mouthing or insulting anyone who thinks we are already great. That's their opinion and that's fine. I just disagree that we have already arrived. That's also an opinion that could be correct or wrong. Too early to tell.

No. What else would you call it?