DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Andrew Berry End of Season Press Conference

Here are most interesting tidbits from the video (I almost got through the whole thing....

1. Baker played well
2. Garrett picked up another injury this past Sunday, gutted through the game, won't need surgery over the offseason
3. More speed on defense is good
4. They're evaluating the team and individuals soon

Andrew Berry will be on 92.3 FM with Ken Carmen and Anthony Lima tomorrow at 8am. Out of towners can listen here:

https://www.radio.com/923thefan/listen

Also - Kevin Stefanski will appear at the same site tomorrow at 4pm on the Bull & Fox show.

To follow up on each point:

1. I think Berry thought he did more than well. The writers were probing a bit as it relates to his contract, but I feel like he used "extremely pleased". Baker is in the plans unless they get an offer they can't refuse.

2. Garrett is one of my favorite players. But I cannot shy away from his injuries. Perhaps his covid dilemma has unfairly increased this concern, but he has had his fair share so far.

3. I think he said more speed everywhere is important.

4. Yup.

I thought it was a very boring press conference, even relative to press conferences.

At the end of a season without any significant coach or regime changes, calls for Jimmy to sell the team, or questions about a top 10 pick.....I"ll take boring .

Boring is beautiful.

I was worried we might fire the coach and the GM just out of habit.

I don't think that offer exists.

Not saying I would agree with this or want it to happen but I have to think many teams, including the Browns, would kick the tires on the cost of Watson.

Due diligence as it's always said.

What about Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs 1st round pick for the next 5 years for Baker?

Amen. Not to get political but on so many levels I look forward to just boring ol’ getting business done. If I’m happy about anything this season and year it’s the real hope not living in a constant churning maelstrom of drama and chaos. Give me boring please.

Andrew Berry couldn't afford to let the disappointment from the Browns' season-ending loss Sunday to the Kansas City Chiefs linger too long.

Berry, Cleveland's GM and EVP of Football Operations, admitted he needed a few days to digest the result from the AFC Divisional round that knocked the Browns out of their first playoff visit in 18 years. Everyone on the Browns did, too, after a season full of triumphs not experienced by the franchise in decades came to a close.

But Berry's focus is now fully turned to getting the Browns back to that game — and the final two games after that — next season. With the offseason arriving in Cleveland, Berry and his crew of assistants and scouts will be back in the spotlight to re-equip the roster with even more talent.

"Over these next couple weeks, we're going to go through a full self-assessment," Berry said. "Not just with the roster, but with football operations, schemes — you name it — to make sure we have a really good beat in terms of our planning entering the offseason."

In his first offseason as a general manager last year, Berry never specifically speculated on which positions and areas of the team he was looking to improve the most. He always believed every position could be improved, and he was steadfast on never tipping his hand about which positions, if any, he was specifically targeting most.

That approach won't change this offseason, either. Berry reiterated he was truly looking for ways to improve every spot on the 2021 team. He doesn't want to feel complacent about any of the current areas of strength on the Browns, and he doesn't want to over-analyze any portion of the team that may be viewed as a weakness.

"We can have improvement anywhere," Berry said. "It's probably too early to make any declarative or definitive statements, but we certainly understand the strengths and weaknesses."

Berry did, however, acknowledge that the team's biggest moves last offseason came on the offense. His two big-ticket free agent signings in tight end Austin Hooper, who caught four touchdowns in his first season in Cleveland, and right tackle Jack Conklin, who was named to multiple All-NFL teams, were difference-makers for the efficiency of the Browns' offense, which shined in both the run and pass departments and finished 14th overall in the NFL.

Berry said the Browns certainly will look to improve the defense this offseason, but he won't compare their efforts in boosting that side of the ball to last offseason. The Browns finished 21st in the league defensively and have several players who are set to become unrestricted free agents March 17, when free agency begins under the new league year.

"I think it's a fair observation to realize that the resources that we had this past year going into this past fall were predominantly oriented to support the offense and support the quarterback," Berry said. "But that doesn't mean we didn't make some investments all across the team. We certainly think we can boost the defense going into 2021."

So how will Berry evaluate external resources and players to potentially add? The logistics of how the NFL will uphold or change its usual offseason schedule are still uncertain due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Berry doesn't believe any changes will affect the Browns' preparations for the 2021 draft class or future free agents.

Berry, as well as the rest of the NFL, were informed of one major change to the schedule: The scouting combine will not contain in-person workouts, which instead will only take place at college pro days, and all interviews and psychological testing will be virtual and there will be limited in-person medical exams.

Just because some of college football's best draft prospects won't be together in Indianapolis for a normal combine doesn't mean Berry and the Browns won't be prepared.

"I don't really see that as an impediment," Berry said. "We went through a whole spring where it was going to be virtual, really on-the-fly mid-process. At this point, all of us know how to use Zoom and FaceTime. We did a ton of player virtual interviews last spring, and it seems like that will continue into this year. I don't see any reason that we can't work through the spring again and have a nice process in place and have a high quality draft."

The Browns proved this season they can be successful despite working primarily in virtual settings, and that included the front office. They're prepared for a second virtual offseason should those circumstances be necessary but are looking forward to when the league can resume normal offseason procedures.

No matter how the next eight months will look, Berry and his crew will be ready to improve the team and position the Browns for another run to the playoffs.

"We feel like we're in a good spot as we enter the new year," he said. "We still have a long way to go in terms of our planning and getting with our coaching staff once they have a little time to relax a little bit, but we're in a good rhythm. We'll be ready to go."

Old habits die hard.

Yippee Ki Yay

I think Higgins is imperative to bring back. Baker has and will continue to have a strong connection with him, and so long as Higgins isn't dropping passes like crazy or is obviously at a physical disadvantage vs defenders, I think we should do everything we can to keep him in Cleveland.

Some good points bone. Higgins might be a thanks, but no thanks.

Not because he isn't a decent player, but we have other players to consider. Higgins is facing OBJ returning, and frankly, finding decent wide receivers isn't all that hard.

We have Hodge, and DPJ who look to be pretty solid, and the draft is always full of receivers all the way down the draft board who have a Higgins skill set.

I am a little torn on this ... I think Higgins will be back, I think we will pay him a lot more than this year maybe in the $1.5-2.2 million per year range, but he's 3rd or 4th on the depth chart.

If OBJ had trade value - he doesn't - I'd be tempted to try to run with Jarvis and Higgins and a pure burner while shipping OBJ. Then DPJ and others. I don't see OBJ as a burner - I see him as a playmaker with RAC ability (hopefully back to an elite level), and I think we are more in need of *speed* to consistently threaten to take the top off (Like Perriman did when he had his breakout year here).

Anyway - we have a whole off season to figure all this out.

I heard what Berry said about Baker - and I really liked that he felt the contract discussions were a personal thing between Browns and Baker and Baker's agent.

It sounds like Andrew Berry knows what he is doing. Finally, a GM that knows how to run things.

With how Higgins started the season on the sidelines, and then came in and picked up where he left off with Baker, I see Higgins situation as independent from OBJ. Higgins performs in games and works well w/ Baker... enough said (imo).
I'm curious to see how the offense looks when OBJ is back (do we see it get bogged down and a less successful like up until he got injured, or were our earlier struggles simply everyone learning the O on the fly and struggling to get into a groove (which they eventually did)).

I don't think we will actively pursue trading OBJ but I believe we will be approached about his availability. If we get a good offer we may then consider moving him. JMO

I Agree on your summation - but I also agree with oober and that there is a factor/facet that is in addition to what you stated ... and that is the undeniable chemistry Higgins and Baker have.

This was not as good as I had hoped it would be.

I mostly agree with your points. The only part that doesn't make sense to me is if speed is what we need most, OBJ is faster than Higgy. I don't have any speed numbers in front of me, but Higgy might be the slowest receiver we have.

Don't get me wrong. I don't really want to get rid of him, but from a cost stand point and a skills standpoint, IMO he is probably the odd man out.

Like you said, the off season allows time to make those decisions. We have about a month to decide on if we look to sign Higgins back.

OBJ is definately faster than Higgins ... but OBJ is not (in my eye) a downfield vertical threat. I think of Perriman who basically ran a streak/go route every time he caught the ball. Maybe a post route thrown in depending on what the safeties did... he caught balls based on speed and adjustment in the air - which is something I'd like to see as an option/threat. I guess the one deep ball vs KC to DPJ was what I am thinking of. To my mind OBJ gets separation off the line, can make you miss and is twitchy fast, but not someone to win contested catches on streaks.

I thought OBJ was the entire package. He has speed (both straight-line and twitchy), great hands, runs good routes. He can pretty much do whatever you would ask of a receiver (and he's supposedly a more than adequate blocker).

Go back and listen almost every game Higgy played in ; Announcers he is not fast , sloppy routes , hair is to long , lazy hips , ect ,ect and then ( wait for it ) All he does is get open and catch the ball for Baker

You will have to excuse me but but talent that cant stay on the field doesn't help my Team either.

excellent use of the word "maelstrom". Though some grammar police might consider "churning maelstrom" to be a bit redundant.

You could well be right that he is the total package... for whatever reason I haven't seen the vertical threat component while he's been a Brown ... to me it's run and catch. But you could easily be correct.

Higgins is a MUST sign.

This kid is not elite, but he is a baller!

Of course, he and Baker have great chemistry.

We do need OBJ deep threat, or someones. Don't forget we have That Marvin Hall we picked up from Detroit and I believe he's faster than OBJ. But can he catch?

AB needs to sign baker mayfield to an extension early to save money.

Around 42 a year on a 5/6 year extension should be fine.

That sounds about right to me. I'm a dummy when it comes to managing cap stuff. Is there a chance we can try to front load it given our current room, or would it be better to evenly space it?

What is the current rate for a franchise QB ?

I think Mahomes blew the doors off with his 10 year $503M deal. Watson I believe was 4 year and $160Mish.

5 years / 175 million sounds about right...

I’m not sure cause it’s a mystery how much the cap is gonna be affected due to Covid.

I think FATE is about right....I see a 4-year extension (after we pick up his 5th year option) at between 35-40M per year.

That would mean we have him locked up for 6 more years.

"Lock him up!
Lock him up!"

As Swish said, extend the guy. As far as your question about the cap, between Berry and Depo, we have 2 very smart people in the house. I am sure between the two and whoever is working in that realm, they will figure it all out down the the last dime.

I don't include Stefanski in this conversation because I don't think think he gets all that involved with the nuts and bolts of true front office matters.

I don’t want the HC involved in money matters either, but his input on players and their potential worth on the team would carry SOME weight.

Of course he does. Maybe my comment about true front office matters is what threw off the point for you.

Let me try this....in a military sense, you have strategic generals, and tactical. Eisenhower was the strategic general. He worked up the plan and objectives. He communicated to the tactical guys what the objectives were. A tactical general like Patton figured out how best to take control of those objectives.

Patton didn't tell Eisenhower what needed to be done and Eisenhower didn't tell Patton how to get it done.

Berry sets strategy, Stefanski sets out the best tactics to get it done. The rest is combined agreement...how many tanks do you need, how many wide receivers do you need? What kind of tanks do you need, what kind of linebackers do you need.

I simply do not think most HC's have a full grasp of the salary cap. Especially with future rosters combined with managing the cap in mind.

I like the way you described it. You certainly want your HC telling the FO his greatest needs. You want him laying out what type of players he needs to fit the system they are trying to run.

But I think it's the sole responsibility of the FO fill those gaps with the type of players your coaching staff needs within the confines and structure of the salary cap.

Brownies & Frownies: Andrew Berry Edition
How did the new GM perform in his first year on the job?

By Barry Shuck

https://www.dawgsbynature.com/2021/2/28/22303368/brownies-frownies-andrew-berry-edition


At the end of January of last year, Andrew Berry was announced as the new GM. A new nameplate was ordered for the office door, slid out of its slot which read “John Dorsey” on the exterior, and when flipped over it said “Sashi Brown” in engraved letters. Is the reason for the slide type nameplate - they are hired, just not for very long.

In fact, Berry may have located his old nameplate when he was the vice president of player personnel for the Browns back in 2016-2018 before becoming the vice president of football operations with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019.

Perhaps Berry’s old parking spot was still available. Regardless, when hired back with Cleveland he became the youngest GM at age 32 in the NFL’s history.

Headlines were rampant such as “Cleveland Browns make a bold, risky move with Andrew Berry.” Browns Wire ran a poll the following day asking readers if they thought the hire was prudent to which only 26% said yes. But Berry is an analytics guy. And the Browns were going the analytics route going forward so the hire made sense. 14 days earlier, Kevin Stefanski was employed as the head coach.

Stefanski’s job is to coach players. Berry’s job is to get Stefanski the right kind of players.

Berry then basically cleaned house beginning with director of scouting Steve Malin, Assistant GM Eliot Wolf, plus Alonzo Highsmith, the VP of player personnel.

To show those 74% pollsters just how wrong they were, Berry’s first coaching hire was Bill Callahan to come in and work the newly-inspired offensive line. At season’s end, Berry should have gotten a raise just for this one decision alone.


Stefanski did his job. The Browns netted their first winning season in forever and not only went to the playoffs, but defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in a playoff game. At season’s end, Stefanski was named NFL Coach-of-the-Year. Not bad for a rookie head coach.

So how did Berry do as the GM for his first year? Here at DBN, we have only one barometer of everything in life from chicken sandwiches to dating practices to Daylight Savings Time to anything Cleveland Browns – Brownies & Frownies. Therefore, we gauge Berry’s first year with his own edition.

BROWNIES
Offensive line – When Berry took on former head coach Freddie Kitchens’ offensive, the most glaring need was both the offensive tackle positions plus right guard. He first waived OG Eric Kush who started 2019 as the starting right guard before Wyatt Teller took over at mid-season. One of the first free agents he inked was the Number 1 free agent offensive lineman in RT Jack Conklin from the Tennessee Titans. Next, C Evan Brown was added as depth. Then Berry used the Browns’ first-round pick in the NFL draft at the Number 10 spot to take the big Alabama tackle Jedrick Wills, plus selected C/G Nick Harris in the fifth-round.

Two of the biggest team news items came from this unit. Firstly, OT Chris Hubbard, who was still on a huge $37 million contract and everyone assumed would be released, agreed to restructure his contract in March on a two-year deal. The move later became genius as Hubbard was used at several positions to fill in for injured players and was already an experienced guy. The other news was when OG Drew Forbes opted out; who at the time was considered to be the front-runner to win the right guard position. The loss of Forbes meant that the job was now Teller’s, and he went on to display that he is one of the NFL’s best offensive linemen. While the move gave Teller the opportunity to shine, numerous injuries at both guard spots during the year could have used the services of Forbes. LG Joel Bitonio was named to his first Pro Bowl.

In fact, this offensive line unit was so good that Football Outsiders ran a poll of its subscriber base to which they voted Teller, Bitonio and Conklin in the Top-8 of all the offensive linemen in the league.

Running backs - The very first player Berry signed as the new GM was FB Johnny Stanton to a reserve/futures contract. Next, he traded with the Denver Broncos for FB Andy Janovich. Yes, the Browns were going to run the ball and one of these two guys would help provide the holes. Having Nick Chubb already under contract was a good thing, but keeping Kareem Hunt was pure forward-thinking. Berry could just as easily traded the former NFL rushing leader instead, but held steadfast and in fact signed him to a two -year extension.

That one-two punch was tough for defenses to digest because the two are completely different runners. Berry also kept D’Ernest Johnson who proved to be not only a valuable backup, but stepped in at kick returner when JoJo Natson went down early in the season. Chubb topped off the year with his second straight Pro Bowl.

Quarterbacks – The undisputed quarterback was always Baker Mayfield, but Berry’s huge signing was his backup Casey Keenum. Stefanski’s offense had already been run by Keenum when the pair were with the Minnesota Vikings. So in a pandemic year, to have someone already familiar with the jargon and schemes was priceless in an effort to help Mayfield grasp the new offense. Plus, Keenum had 62 NFL starts in his eight-year career which gave Stefanski peace-of-mind all season long. Mayfield ultimately flourished in Stefanski’s offense and will only get better.

Wide receivers – What GM could go wrong with two Pro Bowlers on the roster already? Here was Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham, Jr. Berry then inked Rashard Higgins to a one-year deal who proved his worth when OBJ went down in Week 7. Donovan Peoples-Jones was drafted in the sixth-round and proved his worthiness as the season unfolded. KhaDarel Hodge could not stay healthy, but Berry did sign speedy Marvin Hall later in the season.

FROWNIES
Safeties – One has to think this is a position that may never be solved. Berry whiffed on 10-year veteran Andrew Sendejo who missed a ton of tackles and allowed a plethora of touchdown passes. He also kept Sheldrick Redwine who is a poor tackler but has coverage skills and is young. Then, Berry inked former first-rounder Karl Joseph as the other starting safety who does not have the reach to cover taller tight ends but will lay the wood on them once they catch the ball.

Grant Delpit was supposed to help fix this group as he was drafted in the second-round and then signed Elijah Benton and Jovante Moffatt as undrafted free agents for depth. Berry did trade for Ronnie Harrison, which in itself deserves a big ole chewy, fudgey Brownie with walnuts. However, this unit overall needs to be overhauled – again.

Linebackers – The defense of Joe Woods does not require that the franchise spend big money for linebackers, so Berry didn’t. Right off, Berry cut Adarius Taylor and Christian Kirksey and made no effort to sign Joe Schobert to his second contract. Instead, he signed low-dough players with experience such as B.J. Goodson who was a fourth-round pick, then shipped off to Green Bay who let him go after only one season. Malcolm Smith was signed in late August and was the best on them all. Tae Davis, Sione Takitaki, Elijah Lee and Mack Wilson proved invaluable on punt and kickoff coverage, but none appear to be an NFL starting linebackers. Berry selected Jacob Phillips in the third-round of the draft and has good size to take over sooner than later.

Tight ends – Going into the 2020 season, this unit was viewed as one of the deepest and most talented. On the surface, it appeared a can’t miss group. Stefanski’s offense was supposedly built around two and three tight end sets and relied heavily on these guys being on the field for most of the game. Berry ditched Demetrius Harris and tendered Pharaoh Brown, the club’s best blocking TE. The Number 1 tight end free agent prospect was Austin Hooper who had just come off his second straight Pro Bowl season. Berry signed him to a huge $44 million contract for four-years. Harrison Bryant, college football’s Mackey Award winner, was sitting there in Round 4, so Berry drafted him. Nate Wiefing was signed as an undrafted free agent. Lots of big bodies with huge talent including veterans already under contract with Stephen Carlson and David Njoku.

The four who made the roster, Njoku, Hooper, Carlson and Harrison, were seen as the catalyst for this talented offense.

Alternatively, Hooper had 435 yards receiving, his lowest total since his rookie year. Instead of 75 and 71 receptions for those two Pro Bowl seasons, he netted just 49. Receiving yards per target was just 6.2, the bottom end of his five-year career. Njoku had 19 receptions for a paltry 213 yards. Bryant wasn’t much better with 238 yards on 24 catches. Carlson at least had an excuse that he wasn’t playing with his one catch for 11 yards. To make things worse, only 11 touchdowns for this group – combined.

Yes, yes, yes you need good tight ends who can block in a running offense. But this room was paid $7.615 million for a mere 93 receptions. That’s $81,882 per catch or $692,273 for each touchdown scored. And all of these guys will get a raise going forward.

For 2021, something has to change with the tight ends. Like, more production?

Milk Bones – taste like mango until the Habanero kicks in
Special Teams – Right into the season, Berry had to make a tough decision and waive K Austin Seibert who the Browns had used a fifth-round pick on in 2019. Luckily, Berry had stashed veteran Cody Parkey on the practice squad who came through at times and had issues at other times. P Jamie Gillan is a gem and LS Charley Hughlett is one of the league’s best. KR JoJo Natson was supposed to come in and be this burner for the kicking return game, but only returned three punts for an 8.3 average and one kickoff for 31 yards before he tore his ACL in Week 3.

Donovan Peoples-Jones took over punt return responsibilities and averaged 21.1 yards per kickoff without any touchdowns. D’Ernest Johnson took over the kickoff responsibilities. The kickoff recover team was excellent all season with hitters such as Elijah Lee, Stephen Carlson, Tavierre Thomas and Tae Davis.

Cornerbacks – As a former cornerback, this should be Berry’s focus area for the most success. However, injuries and sloppy play made this unit anything but consistent. Denzel Ward is still playing at a Pro Bowl caliber as opposing quarterbacks rarely pick on him. But he suffered a slight groin injury in mid-September which he aggravated a week later. Then he was out for four games with a calf strain. Second-rounder Greedy Williams was supposed to play opposite Ward, but sat out the entire 2020 season with a nerve injury in his shoulder.

Now, injured players are not Berry’s fault; but the depth behind the proposed starters are his responsibility. Terrance Mitchell was a capable veteran presence and had some success. He graded out at 66.7 on Pro Football Focus which is middle-of-the-pack numbers. Kevin Johnson, himself a former first-round draft pick, was signed on a one-year prove it deal, played 13 games for the Browns with six starts and allowed only a single touchdown pass from his opponents. But opposing quarterbacks used and abused him with his spotty coverage. His PFF grade was even worse at 51.4.

Robert Jackson was graded at 48.2 and was picked on every game because the completion percentage throwing his way became very high. He played in 10 games yet had just six tackles, zero interceptions and one pass defense. Ouch. A.J. Green went from waivers to the active roster to practice squad continually all season and eventually on IR. Brian Allen has jumped around the league and was signed as a healthy body late in the year. Both Ward and Johnson ended up on the COVID list at some point which did not help matters.

Defensive line – Berry traded up to get DT Jordan Elliott in the third-round of the draft, so don’t think that this guy is not in the defensive workings. He had added another big DT in free agency with Andrew Billings and then came to terms with DE Adrian Clayborn who proved invaluable down the stretch. Billings is starting material but was an opt-out.

Berry let Olivier Vernon and Larry Ogunjobi play out their final year and probably will not re-sign either with both Clayborn and Billings already waiting to step in and start with young depth. DE Porter Gustin was a big disappointment as he appeared the plum coming out of training camp. Berry was the one who finally cut Chad Thomas but replaced him with Vincent Taylor who played only 206 snaps all year with just 12 tackles. Ogunjobi had his worst season to date while Vernon is viewed as injury-prone.

Myles Garrett made the Pro Bowl again, but every offense figured out quickly that the Browns pass rush was predicated on Garrett getting to the quarterback. This alone proved problematic late in the season. Plus, Garrett just never seemed right after landing on the COVID list and had some issues with stamina which affected his defensive snaps. Clayborn and Gustin just did not provide the push into the backfield because basically, there wasn’t anyone else left to insert. The pass rush should become Berry’s Number 1 focus this off-season.

Good read.

As far as Hooper, he played 13 games last year with 70 targets and 46 catches.

Being targeted is a important factor when related to total catches.

I don't think Hooper all of a sudden forgot how to run routes or forgot how to get open. Not counting the games lost, I think his production went down because he wasn't targeted as much. His production when targeted was good.

I don't know what might have happened to the 24 targets that didn't turn in to a catch, but I know he didn't drop 24 balls.

I didn't look to see how many times Hooper was on the field when the 2nd TE was on the field, but he had to be fairly often when the other TE got targeted. If you are playing 2 TE's at the same time on a pass play, the targets for each individual TE has to be lower.

The first thing that stood out to me in the article is two fold. First it states that it is Stefanski's job to coach and Berry's job to get him the players he needs to run his system. That makes perfect sense and is pretty much the job of all NFL GM's.

Then a short time later it claims Berry was the one who hired Callahan. Does this mean the author is trying to claim it was Berry who assembled Stefanski's coaching staff? I thought it was Stefanski who chose and selected his own coaching staff.

The whole article is is desperate need of editing.

haha yeah I chuckled at Casey Keenum

So is is this post.

Smh

I have to believe that Stefanski wanted Callahan and Keenum... I mean, Berry may have said, hey, Callahan is available and Stefanski said yes,, I suppose it could have been. But I have doubts.

As for Keenum, geez it's hard for me to believe anything other than Stefanski wanted him and asked for him.

Other than those two things, great article and I do believe Berry is the right man for the job. I'm very glad he's here.

I have no problem with the people in charge of both the FO and the coaching staff. I mean why would any Browns fan at this point? We have reached a point of success in a very small amount of time we haven't seen since before our return in 1999. We beat the Steelers in the playoffs. All signs moving forward are positive. You gotta love that.

I just think the author of the article doesn't have a clue. From every report we've seen Stefanski assembled his coaching staff. And as you stated, it's hard to believe that Berry just told Stefanski he was signing Keenum without Stefanski having the majority of the say. The article plainly stated the players have to fit what Stefanski was trying to do.

Of all the positions on the team where that is most critical, that would be the QB position.

I don't know what to make of that. I suppose if the author wrote Jimmy Haslam hired Callahan he wouldn't be wrong in the loosest sense. I suppose the same could be said of Berry since he is the GM.

I'll leave it that both Stefanski and Berry talked and decided hiring Callahan and others was a good move to make.

Same with Keenum. Makes sense to me Stefanski expressed his desire to bring him on board, so Berry went out and got him.

All good signs that all the key players have a voice that is heard and given serious consideration by the others. Stefanski, Berry, and Depo are good at what they do for the team. I am sure the key areas of scouting are good at what they do.

It's all looking up from where I sit.

Notes: GM Andrew Berry calls Sheldon Richardson “big loss,” says it was difficult decision to release him

https://www.brownszone.com/2021/04/23/no...to-release-him/

General manager Andrew Berry declined to get into the specifics of why he elected to cut starting defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson in a salary cap move last week despite having more than $10 million in room. The release gave the Browns another $10 million in cap space.
“Obviously it was a cap-related move from our perspective, but obviously Sheldon did a lot of good things for us — a good guy, a good player,” Berry said Friday on a Zoom call. “Those decisions are always very difficult.
“Sheldon is a big loss. He was a big part of what we did last year. He had a really strong presence in our locker room.”
Berry said it’s “certainly possible” Richardson could re-sign but it would have to work financially for the player and team.
GM Andrew Berry won’t chase “instant gratification,” determined to keep focus on long term during NFL Draft

DREAM WEAVER

The pass rush will have new faces in ends Jadeveon Clowney and Takk McKinley and tackle Malik Jackson, who were greeted with varying degrees of fanfare when they signed as free agents. Curtis Weaver is under the radar but has the potential to be another addition at end.
The Browns claimed him in August after the Dolphins, who drafted him in the fifth round last year, put him on waivers after he tore a ligament in his big toe. He spent all season on injured reserve but had 34 sacks in three seasons at Boise State.
“Curtis is a guy who we liked throughout the draft process,” Berry said. “He was a very productive rusher at Boise State, an athletic guy and probably a little bit more technically developed than most edge guys that we see come into the league. When he became available, we felt like he was a good young player to really add to the mix.
“Curtis really since we have acquired him has done a great job of rehabilitating his toe and then he has really done a great job of totally transforming his body throughout the offseason. We think he is a guy who has talent and can contribute.”
FOR THE WORLD TO SEE

The NFL released more free tickets for the NFL Draft Experience, and registration is available on the NFL OnePass app. The league said Friday fan capacity had been raised and will be approximately 50,000 per day. Much of the venue is outside along the lakefront and downtown.
“What I am most excited for is the nation to see the passion of the region and honestly for them to see what we all appreciate so much about the city and why we love Cleveland so much and really just the passion of our fan base,” Berry said. “I am excited for Browns fans to be very loud and visible next Thursday, Friday and Saturday and really for the whole nation to see our beautiful city.”
EXTRA POINTS

Berry revealed that after the long draft evaluation process, the team has 114 players it views as “draftable.” It has 54 more considered priority free agents.
Although the 114th pick is made in the fourth round, Berry said 115-130 draftable players is normal for teams on which he’s worked.
** Berry credited the medical staff with finding creative solutions so Berry could have the necessary injury information despite the lack of a normal combine to evaluate players.





Andrew Berry: "We've gone from about 1,100 prospects to a draft board containing 168 players."

Executive Vice President, Football Operations & General Manager Andrew Berry addressed the media via Zoom on April 23, 2021. Andrew discusses how the organization has been preparing for the 2021 NFL Draft, how the roster has shaped up through free agency and picking up the fifth-year option for quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Executive Vice President, Football Operations & General Manager Andrew Berry addressed the media at the 2022 NFL Combine. Andrew discusses his evaluation of the Browns, Baker Mayfield's progress following his surgery and what to expect from this year's prospects at the combine.