Cleveland Browns

[January 22] Vikings assistant GM George Paton is in Berea for a second interview for the Browns vacant GM job, as Tom Pelissero reported would happen this week. A potential big day for a decision (Ian Rapoport).

[January 16] More on the Browns GM search: Vikings assistant GM George Paton is tentatively scheduled to interview in Cleveland this weekend, source said. Monti Ossenfort of the Patriots and Andrew Berry of the Eagles are speaking with the Browns tomorrow (Ian Rapoport).

[January 13] Vikings assistant GM George Paton is, in fact, expected to interview for the vacant Browns GM job, source said. This is significant, as he hasn’t always interviewed after receiving requests. He’s close with new coach Kevin Stefanski and works alongside GM Rick Spielman in MIN (Ian Rapoport).

[January 13] Colts assistant GM Ed Dodds informed the Browns he is declining an interview for their GM job, source said. Dodds, a highly respected executive, feels there is unfinished business in Indy (Tom Pelissero).

[January 11] Browns expressed interest in speaking with Bills assistant general manager Joe Schoen for their GM job, per source. He would align with head coaching candidate Brian Daboll (Jeremy Fowler).

[January 11] The Browns are still culling GM requests, but among the names associated with 49ers DC Robert Saleh who could draw interest: Trent Kirchner and Scott Fitterer with the Seahawks and Adam Peters with the 49ers (Rapoport).

[January 11] Browns requested permission to interview Eagles’ vice president of football operations Andrew Berry for their general manager job, per source (Schefter).

[January 11] Before they hire a head coach, Browns now seeking GM candidates: they put in a request to interview Colts’ assistant GM Ed Dodds, sources tell SethWickersham and me. FWIW, Dodds worked in Seattle WiFi Browns’ HC candidate Robert Saleh, now the 49ers’ DC (Schefter).

[January 5] With the Seahawks facing the Eagles, keep an ear out for Seattle’s Trent Kirchner and Scott Fitterer in the forthcoming Browns GM search. Sources say Jimmy Haslam admires the Hawks’ sustained success. Depending on who the coach is, those two could emerge as strong candidates (Garafalo).

[January 2] A report from Pauline and Allbright state that the two leading pairs for HC/GM in Cleveland are Kevin Stefanski/Andrew Berry and Josh McDaniels/Dave Ziegler. Click here to read the report in more detail.

[December 31] The mainstream media has caught up to Pro Football Network and is now reporting that John Dorsey has been fired.

[December 28] The Browns are on the verge of major changes within the organization. Here’s everything that Pauline and Allbright know from the last several weeks.

[December 28] In this week’s playoff edition of the College Football Live Blog, Pauline had some news to share in the 5:10 PM update regarding the current situation the team finds themselves in. According to Pauline, rumors have been running rampant all day as to what may happen in Cleveland with the Browns next week. Throughout the day, he learned of several updates from a number of sources including:

Dorsey’s return next year is not a guarantee, and several people feel he could be a casualty of the 2019 season and be fired next week. While this is a possibility, everyone Pauline spoke with feels it would be a mistake to fire Dorsey, something he agrees with.



If Kitchens is retained, he will have to relinquish the play-calling duties. Several scenarios, including bringing in a new offensive coordinator to call plays, were laid out to Pauline.



Another scenario is a compromise between Dorsey and Haslam, where Kitchens is fired, and the team hires a new head coach. Several people threw around the name of Mike McCarthy as a definite possibility.

[December 28] On the eve of the season finale in Cleveland, there is still plenty of questions surrounding the team. According to what sources have told Allbright, the internal dysfunction has not gotten any better since our report several weeks ago.



One person who is looking to have his voice heard more within the organization is Paul DePodesta. DePodesta’s advice has been ignored twice – once when he wanted to hire Sean McDermott and the second when he wanted to hire Kevin Stefanski. Both times, owner Jimmy Haslam chose someone different for the head coach position – Hue Jackson and Freddie Kitchens, respectively.



One of the bigger reasons for promoting Kitchens was the hope that Baker Mayfield would continue to develop with a familiar voice and system. But now, change may be coming a year later.



Allbright is hearing that the disagreement between management and ownership continues when it comes to the status of Kitchens. Rumor has it that Dee Haslam wants Josh McDaniels while GM John Dorsey would like to retain Kitchens.



Throughout this, Haslam has been consulting with Urban Meyer (who has all of the sudden turned into a coaching consultant [Washington, Colorado State]). All that said, Haslam is super sensitive about the Browns reputation as an unstable franchise. All options remain on the table for the organization.