Former Cleveland Browns executives quickly find new homes
By Dan Justik
The Cleveland Browns restructured their front office this offseason, causing two former high-ranking executives in the prior regime to find new homes.
The Cleveland Browns front office underwent rapid change after Andrew Berry was named the general manager after the organization fired John Dorsey at the end of the 2019 season. Two of Dorsey’s right-hand men, Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith, parted ways with the Browns shortly after Berry was hired.
The Browns are hoping that they will be creating more alignment in the front office with their changes this offseason. Since Wolf and Highsmith were both of Dorsey’s top executives, it would be hard to see them aligning with the new front office after the man who brought them to Cleveland was let go.
However, it did not take long for either Wolf or Highsmith to find jobs in the NFL. Both of the former Browns executives are being hired as consultants with the Seattle Seahawks, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
The #Seahawks are hiring Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith as consultants during the draft process this spring, sources say. Both know John Schneider well. Long-term options for both of the former #Browns executives remain open.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 24, 2020
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Highsmith was not fond of the direction the Browns were going with their front office by taking a deeper dive into analytics. Highsmith is considered a traditional scout, so his “philosophy was different” from Cleveland’s philosophy on scouting.
On the other hand, the Browns were trying to keep Wolf with the new regime. Wolf has long been viewed as an executive who could become a general manager, so it is clear his knowledge is valued. Despite Cleveland’s efforts to retain Wolf, it was agreed that Wolf would move on.
Even after the Browns parted ways with Dorsey and there seemed to be a greater focus on utilizing analytics, Wolf and Highsmith led Cleveland’s scouting at the Senior Bowl. Without a general manager, they were the two highest executives in Cleveland’s front office at the time.
Wolf and Highsmith will be joining a Seattle front office led by general manager John Schneider. Similar to the connection with Dorsey in Cleveland, Wolf and Highsmith have a Green Bay Packers connection with Schneider.
Schneider has spent 12 seasons with the Green Bay Packers during his career, starting out as a scout with the organization in 1993. After making other stops around the league, Schneider rejoined the Packers in 2002. He was there until 2009 when he was hired by the Seahawks.
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It is not a surprise that Wolf and Highsmith were able to find landing spots soon after being let go by the Browns. Despite the chaos that happened in the Browns front office, it is clear the belief is that the chaos was mostly caused by Dorsey.