Cleveland Browns set up second interview with GM hopeful George Paton

The Cleveland Browns already added one former Minnesota Viking in head coach Kevin Stefanski and seem prepared to add another in George Paton, who is interviewing for the second time on Wednesday

Kevin Stefanski was with the Minnesota Vikings for 14 seasons and survived a lot of regime changes in those years. He finally left this offseason after agreeing to become the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Stefanski was hired before the Browns chose their new general manager, which isn’t always the way teams do business. However, it could work out as they’re closing in on a GM candidate that knows Stefanski well.

George Paton, who is currently the vice president of player personnel and assistant general manager with the Vikings, is coming to Berea on Wednesday for a second interview with the team.

Like Stefanski, he has been in Minnesota through some changes as he joined in 2007. Before spending 13 seasons with the Vikings, Paton was with the Miami Dolphins as the director of pro personnel from 2001 through 2006 — Paton’s work history is according to the Vikings official website.

Since joining Minnesota, he’s worked closely with GM Rick Spielman, who is one of the better general managers in the game. Minnesota has not won a Super Bowl in the tenure of Spielman but they’re always a strong contender and just came off their third-consecutive winning season and their second double-digit winning season in the past three years.

Cleveland’s offseason search for their new head coach and general manager has been led by chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta. So far, it looks as though he’s focusing solely on adding talent from teams with a winning tradition and hoping that will rub off on the struggling Browns franchise.