CLEVELAND, Ohio —Vikings assistant general manager George Paton interviewed with the Browns on Saturday for their GM job and will meet with them in Berea a second time this week, a league source told cleveland.com.

If all goes, well, he could be hired as GM before the week is out. The other two candidates interviewed were Eagles Vice President of Football Operations Andrew Berry and Patriots Director of College Scouting Monti Ossenfort, who both came to town on Friday.

Paton is not attending the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. this week, a source told cleveland.com, and Browns coach Kevin Stefanski will be in Cleveland to serve as a presenter at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards on Wednesday night.

Originally, Paton contemplated declining the interview because he figured the job would go to Berry, a favorite of Jimmy Haslam and Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta. But the chance to work with his longtime Vikings associate Kevin Stefanski enticed him to meet with the Browns. It went so well the first time, he’s coming back for round two.

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Completing his 13th season as Vikings Vice President of Player Personnel and Assistant GM, Paton spent all of those seasons with Stefanski, who coached running backs, tight ends, quarterbacks and coordinated the offense during that span.

"I think it would behoove the Browns to do everything in their power to hire George,'' former Browns linebacker Chris Spielman, brother of Vikings GM Rick Spielman who knows Paton and Stefanski well, told cleveland.com. "It makes the most sense for Kevin Stefanski as a [coach-GM] team.''

Spielman noted that Paton is a highly sought-after GM candidate who has turned down numerous opportunities. He believes Paton and Stefanski are exactly what the Browns need to get to the next level.

"Look at what Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have accomplished as a team,'' Spielman said. "It’s a copycat league, and Kevin and George would make an excellent team.''

Berry, 32, became a favorite of Podesta during his his three years here as Vice President of Player Personnel, but became expendable in 2019 in the second year of GM John Dorsey’s reign. Berry also got to know Stefanski well during the Browns’ head coach search in 2019, when Stefanski was passed over by Dorsey in favor of Freddie Kitchens.

But Stefanski has a long history with Paton, and Paton has an excellent track record as a talent evaluator in his 20-plus seasons in the NFL, and has turned down multiple opportunities to run other teams, including the Jets and Dolphins.

He’s worked side-by-side his entire career with Spielman, first as a scout with the Bears in the late 1990s and then as Assistant Director of Pro Personnel in 2000. He then spent six seasons under Spielman with the Dolphins as Director of Pro Personnel before they moved on to the Vikings in 2007.

In their 13 seasons in Minnesota, they’ve been to the playoffs six times, including the NFC Championship Game twice.

This season, the Vikings went 10-6 and earned a Wildcard playoff berth, where they upset the Saints, 26-20. They lost 27-10 in the divisional round to the 49ers, who will face the Chiefs in the Super Bowl Feb. 2.

Paton was a finalist for the 49rs GM job in 2017 that went to Lynch, and was one of six candidates to interview for the Colts job that went to Chris Ballard in 2017.

This post was updated at 1:15 to reflect the new information that Paton will come back to Berea for a second interview in the next couple of days.

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