Cleveland Browns name Paul DePodesta chief strategy officer

Oct 11, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; A detailed view of Cleveland Browns helmets during the first quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Cleveland Browns defeated Baltimore Ravens 33-30 in over time. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

The Cleveland Browns made a surprising move on Tuesday, adding baseball executive Paul DePodesta to their restructured front office.

The Cleveland Browns made another front office move on Tuesday in naming Paul DePodesta as the team’s chief strategy officer.

The team announced the move on its website.

“We are fortunate to bring in Paul, an extremely talented, highly respected sports executive who will add a critical dimension to our front office,” owner Jimmy Haslam said in announcing the move. “His approach and ambition to find the best pathways for organizational success transcend one specific sport and his experience as a high level sports executive make him a terrific addition to the Cleveland Browns.”

According to the team, DePodesta will be responsible for “assessing and implementing best practices and strategies that will provide the organization with the comprehensive resources needed to make optimal decisions.”

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He will also be above executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown in the organizational structure and will report to Haslam and team president Alec Scheiner, according to ESPN, which cited unnamed sources.

DePodesta joins the Browns after spending 20 years working in the front office for five Major League Baseball teams. (Yes, Browns fans, you read that right.) He has worked as an assistant general manager, general manager, executive vice president, and vice president of scouting and player development for the Oakland A’s, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and New York Mets, his most recent employer.

His move to Cleveland brings DePodesta full circle, as he began his career as an intern in player development in 1996 for the Cleveland Indians. He was an advance scout for the Indians in 1997 and 1998 and later was a special assistant to the general manager.

“My focus is to bring whatever experience and perspective I can to collaborate with the team, with the intent of helping us make more informed and successful decisions,” DePodesta said. “Admittedly, there will be an awful lot for me to learn, but I want nothing more than to help bring consistent, championship caliber football back to Cleveland and Browns fans and I look forward to starting right away.”

Two thoughts quickly come to mind with this latest move:

By bringing in DePodesta, who has spent his entire professional career in another sport and pairing him with a person, Brown, who will have final say over the 53-man roster for the first time, no one can accuse the Browns of just doing things the same old way. Whether or not that is a good thing remains to be seen.
With the speed that the Browns have made these moves – promoting Brown on Sunday night and hiring DePodesta two days later – it seems pretty clear that Haslam has been planning to make an organizational shift for a while now. This doesn’t come across as a knee-jerk reaction to finishing the season at 3-13, but rather a plan that has been simmering for months.

Again, all of this may not work, but at least someone sat down and thought this through before making a move.

Which is something we haven’t seen from the Browns in far too long.

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