Why the Cleveland Browns will punt the 2020 NFL Draft
By Joel W. Cade
The Cleveland Browns have entered their annual angst of recycling of the coaching staff. This year was extra special because they recycled their GM. All that is left is to punt the 2020 Draft.
The Cleveland Browns fired the head coach. They hired a new head coach. Their general manager voluntarily left. The Browns are interviewing new GM candidates. In all, just another ho-hum Browns offseason.
The one remarkable thing about this offseason is that owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam seemed to have listened to the guy they pay to help them make decisions. (On a personal note, I wish I had enough money to pay a guy two million dollars per year to help me make decisions. I then want to have the luxury to ignore his advice for three years. What a life!)
With the overall front office designed to achieve the ever elusive “alignment” almost in place, the next major event this offseason for Browns fans is the NFL draft. What is for fans the highlight of the offseason, it is a year-round business for the front office.
But, the Browns have just turned over their front office. With that turnover goes most of the preparation. Not that the work is lost, but that the work was designed to find a particular type of player that former general manager John “buddy boy” Dorsey wants for the team.
With Dorsey gone, the new staff will have about 2 months to come up with a completely new draft plan. However, there are a few options on the table. The first option could be to continue with the current year’s research and draft off that information. Second, they could start all over but may not be ready in time to make well-informed decisions. Third, it could be that the “analytics department” with the Browns will simply tweak their current information and be ready to go. But the most likely scenario is that the Browns will punt this year’s draft.