Looking for reasons to believe in John Dorsey
By Thomas Moore
The Cleveland Browns are embarking on a new journey with general manager John Dorsey. But is he the right man to take the helm? We turned to Matt Conner from Arrowhead Addict for answers.
Cleveland Browns general manager has been a busy man since taking over in Berea.
There was the introductory news conference on Dec. 8 that was filled with the usual empty platitudes about the production tradition of the franchise and the great fan base.
Dorsey followed that up with several interviews where he trashed the work of his predecessor, executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown, and threw portions of the current roster under the bus.
Pretty interesting stuff from a guy who was sitting at home unemployed when Browns owner Jimmy Haslam came calling with a job offer.
But when you come down to it, that is all just noise. The important work will come in the next few months, as Dorsey navigates the offseason with somewhere close to $100 million in cap space (give or take a few million) and a dozen draft picks – including five in the first two rounds and a pair in the first round that could both be among the first five selections.
Dorsey arrived in Cleveland off a four-year run as general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs where the Chiefs made the playoffs three times. He was the 2013 Executive of the Year; drafted notable players such as tight end Travis Kelce, cornerback Marcus Peters and wide receiver Tyreek Hill; and swung a trade for starting quarterback Alex Smith.
He was also fired by the Chiefs over the summer over concerns that Dorsey is more of a scout than a general manager, is disorganized and a poor communicator, is not good at managing the salary cap, and wants to keep the scouting department in a silo from the coaching staff.
So did the Browns somehow land the general manager who is finally going to right the ship? Or did they stumble across another person who is going to cause dysfunction within team headquarters on a daily basis?
As with most things, the truth lies somewhere in between, which is why we reached out to Matt Conner, site expert at Arrowhead Addict, for some answers on the man who will oversee one of the most-crucial offseasons in franchise history.