Cleveland Browns add experience to personnel department with Ryan Grigson
The Cleveland Browns made an interesting move by adding Ryan Grigson to the front office after his rocky tenure in Indianapolis.
The Cleveland Browns have made an addition to their front office. The team announced Wednesday that they will be adding new Ryan Grigson to the player personnel department.
Ryan Grigson spent five seasons as general manager of the Colts starting with the 2012 season. Prior to Indianapolis, he was Director of Player Personnel for the Philadelphia Eagles for two seasons.
He obtained the position after years of moving up the scouting ranks, first in St. Louis with the Rams from 1999 to 2003 and then in Philadelphia from 2004-2009.
A handful of bad decisions are what ultimately led to Grigson’s demise with the Colts. Unfortunately when you are in a position of power, a few decisions is all it takes to make or break a franchise. One decision has hovered over the rest like a dark cloud that the young executive has not been able to outrun.
In 2013, Grigson gave the green light for a trade to send the team’s 2014 first-round pick to none other than the Cleveland Browns for their promising star running back Trent Richardson. Quickly, the Colts learned that they were mistaken.
Richardson contributed little, spending just two seasons with the team mostly as a backup before getting his release. Colts fans have made a lot of noise about this trade.
Luckily for Grigson, the Browns did not get a franchise player out of the deal or he would be panned for the trade even more than he already is. (Browns fans know who the team took with their second pick that year, no need to go back down that road…)
He was at the helm to draft superstar quarterback Andrew Luck. When healthy, Luck has been one of the NFL’s best, leading the Colts to three consecutive playoff appearances in his first three seasons. Critics propose that having an elite talent like Luck helped cover up some of the mistakes of Grigson’s front office. There may be some truth to that.
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The GM’s seat did only become warmer when Luck was sidelined with injuries in 2015 and reportedly played through shoulder issues in 2016. Colts fans blamed the quarterback’s injuries on management for not being able to field an offensive line to protect him.
The question remains, with the criticism Grigson faced as general manager in Indianapolis, is he a good fit for the Browns organization? The answer is simple. In his current position, absolutely.
True, Ryan Grigson made some mistakes as a general manager. The Browns aren’t asking him to make those decisions in Cleveland. They have assigned him to the player evaluation department, an area Grigson has tremendous experience in.
Sashi Brown had this to say in a statement on the hire:
"“Ryan brings valuable experience to our personnel group. He was raised as a road-scout and has been evaluating talent in this league for almost 20 years.”“We place a premium on that experience and on his passion for football. Ryan has much to offer to any personnel department and we are pleased that he chose to join our staff.”"
Another reason for hiring Grigson is his familiarity with Vice President of Player Personnel Andrew Berry. Grigson was actually Berry’s boss for four seasons in Indianapolis where Berry oversaw the Colts scouting department.
Interestingly enough, the tables have turned as Grigson will now have to report directly to his former employee.
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The fact of the matter is you can never have too much experience in the front office. Ryan Grigson has almost two decades experience evaluating talent. He will be an asset to the Browns organization in this capacity.