Sashi Brown, Hue Jackson, Paul DePodesta

Sashi Brown (left) and Paul DePodesta (right) and Hue Jackson (center) need to stay in place as the off-season and the draft loom.

(John Kuntz / cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot wrote a very interesting column about the Cleveland Browns needing to hire an experienced NFL football executive.

It was the kind of story I wrote not long after Sashi Brown was promoted to vice president in charge of football operations. At that point, the Browns were looking for a general manager type, although he would probably not have that title.

That guy was hired. It's Andrew Berry, who basically is the player personnel director. The Browns also added veteran baseball executive Paul DePodesta as chief strategy officer.

My guess is most fans would have felt better about the new front office had there been a veteran football man in charge. But the Browns went in a different direction, with Brown/DePodesta/Berry.

The strongest football voice belongs to Hue Jackson. Part of the reason Jackson took the job was he knew he'd have influence with the front office. He also believed he could work for Brown & Company.

That's how owner Jimmy Haslam set it up:

1. Brown in charge, with DePodesta and Berry combining traditional football scouting with an analytics approach.

2. Jackson would be the main voice as the leader of the football team.

3. Brown's job is the make sure everyone works together.

Remember, the last two front offices splintered. There was a break between CEO Joe Banner and GM Mike Lombardi late in the 2013 season. In 2015, the split was between GM Ray Farmer and coach Mike Pettine.

I would have kept Banner as CEO and fired Lombardi. Farmer would have been Banner's assistant as the team headed into the 2014 draft. But that's me, and that's ancient history.

Instead, Farmer and Pettine were thrown together, both rookies in their jobs. They had no prior relationship with each other. Making that work was a long shot.





WHO IS IN CHARGE?

Here is the main issue with Cabot's idea: To bring in a strong executive, he will want (and need) real power. Basically, he would be taking Brown's job, even if Brown remained in some capacity.

The new football executive would then inherit Jackson, DePodesta, Berry, etc. So if he keeps Jackson, then it's another shotgun marriage -- much like Farmer and Pettine.

It wasn't Farmer who hired Pettine. After Pettine was hired to coach, Farmer was promoted to general manager. Talk about a way to instantly create trust issues, that was it.

I don't want a repeat of something like that.

Can the team add an older executive as a consultant -- of course. Cabot claims you can add this type of football executive without blowing up the structure. But the type of person she is looking for having "final say over all personnel decisions" also should want to bring in his own scouts and probably his own coach.

I've always preferred a strong general manager who hires the coach -- and they are in it together. When a general manager inherits a coach, they can say all the right things. But it's so easy for that relationship to fall apart under strain. If you bring in a strong football guy, then he has to be given permission to hire his own scouts, coach, etc.

It can't be a halfway move.

Cabot and I have disagreed before. The biggest was the 2012 when I loved Trent Richardson in the draft. Cabot thought it was an awful idea to pick the Alabama running back, and she turned out to be right.

So I know not everything I write deserves to be inscribed on a stone tablet for posterity.

As Cabot pointed out, there are reasons for doubt about the current football setup. But after one draft and 12 games, I'm not ready to make any major change of direction with the Browns.





ABOUT THE BROWNS

1. The real front office test is coming. Adding picks, cutting players and socking away salary cap room comes under the business heading of "asset acquisition." That's a challenge, but not the hard part.

2. The Browns have an NFL-high $50 million of room on their salary cap right now. It can go higher. As I wrote last weekend, picking up Terrelle Pryor and Jamie Collins is like adding two first-round draft picks. They probably would be among the top 10 players selected if they were eligible for the 2017 college draft. Now, the mission is to sign them.

3. The Browns appear to have 13 picks in 2017. Some of these are compensatory picks, that's why I'm a bit unclear. But this much is obvious: They have two picks in each of the first two rounds.

4. If the draft were held today, the Browns would be picking 1, 12, 33 and 47. That sets them up for a franchise-changing draft if they do it right. Somewhere in this draft is a good quarterback. Can they find him?

5. The Browns also need to add to the offensive line. I think they need a big-time center, be it a free agent or draft pick. The next Alex Mack is probably in this draft.

6. So it's time for the Browns to be very serious about picking players, not simply adding picks through trades. They did both last season, trading down twice to add picks and still select their top-rated wide receiver -- Corey Coleman.

7. The last four games are important because it will help give us a better idea of how the front office performed. Coleman is over his broken hand. He has 20 catches (three TDs) in six games. Let's see what he does in the cold of December on a losing team with an uncertain quarterback situation. That's a tough assignment for any rookie, but that's also life in the NFL.

8. Then there's Robert Griffin III ... we'll see.

9. The Browns are giving Jonathan Cooper a chance at guard. He was the No. 7 pick in the 2013 draft by Arizona. He had injuries and has been a big disappointment. He was waived by New England and picked up by the Browns. It's a long shot, but sometimes a player in this situation pulls himself together and has a decent career.

10. The Browns are going to look at Rashard Higgins, occasionally as a slot receiver. He caught two passes for 34 yards in the loss to the Giants. I think the rookie can be an effective receiver. The Browns need to find out.







