With the trade deadline just passing and the Browns having some time before their next game against the Jets, it felt like there would be a slight pause on organizational movement. Veterans like David Njoku, Wyatt Teller, and Shelby Harris are all staying put for the season, and fans were ready for a brief exhale before the final nine games of the year.
Things did not stay quiet in Berea for very long, however, as they will be losing one of the highest-ranking front office members. Per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Browns Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta is leaving the team to join the Colorado Rockies as the team's Head of Baseball Operations.
Browns Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta leaving for Rockies
DePodesta is famously known for his role in the early 2000s Oakland Athletics teams, and was portrayed by Jonah Hill in the movie Moneyball. He served in various front office roles in Major League Baseball from 1996 up until 2016, when the Browns hired him and later extended him in July of 2021.
It's unclear exactly what DePodesta did during his nine years in Cleveland, as his work came entirely behind the scenes and was focused more on free agency and the draft. He isn't someone who was in the building in Berea on a daily basis, and often worked remotely from California or commuted to Cleveland when needed.
Plenty of Browns fans will be thrilled to see this change, as they are not fond of his analytics-based roster construction. Although we won't know his exact roles in every move, it's safe to assume he also signed off on the Deshaun Watson trade and contract that will continue to limit the Browns. That move is much easier to judge in hindsight, but change isn't a bad thing after the franchise had a successful rebuild just to re-enter one in his time here.
It will be interesting to see how Jimmy Haslam replaces this role, if at all, in the offseason. There's too much that can happen with the other major decision-makers in the organization from now until then, but this is a significant development at the top of the organization nonetheless.