When the Browns decided to part ways with Kevin Stefanski, many fans were stoked to see the end of that error — uhh... I mean era. There's certainly a lot that wasn't directly Stefanski's fault that he still had to answer for, namely the fact that he wasn't the one sourcing the players for this roster.
That would be Andrew Berry. Berry joined the Browns in 2020 as the team's general manager and executive VP of football operations. Prior to this season, his biggest splash was trading for quarterback Deshaun Watson and handing him a fully guaranteed, five-year, $240 million contract — a transaction now affectionately referred to as the worst in NFL history.
Saddled with that deal and the fallout of losing several years' worth of premium draft picks to make it happen, the Browns desperately needed their GM to flex his scouting muscles and find some gems in the later rounds. Berry was largely unsuccessful.
Take a look at the Cleveland Browns roster. Prior to this past draft, this exercise would have been even more harrowing, but rookies notwithstanding, it's not hard to see that many of the Browns' best players were not drafted by Andrew Berry.
Myles Garrett? A John Dorsey draft pick. Denzel Ward, David Njoku, the trade for Wyatt Teller? Dorsey decisions. Joel Bitonio — the heart and soul of this team — was drafted even before Dorsey was around. Prior to this draft class, it would be effectively impossible to name a single Andrew Berry decision that was an absolute home run.
That's why it's hard to fathom that Berry was able to escape unscathed from the mess he largely created. He was responsible for the Watson deal. He drafted Jedrick Wills, Jordan Elliott, Jacob Phillips, Anthony Schwartz, David Bell, Siaki Ika, and Mike Hall Jr. in the top three rounds.
Of course he's had a few hits, but even those come with caveats. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was a budding superstar until a potential career-ending neck injury sidelined him. Greg Newsome II looked like a top nickel corner in this league before falling off and being swapped to Jacksonville for Tyson Campbell. The point is, Andrew Berry has just as much blood on his hands as Kevin Stefanski or anyone else involved in this operation.
Andrew Berry's presence could scare off top HC candidates
One of the most intriguing stories of last season's coaching carousel was the Jacksonville Jaguars' courtship of then-Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen. The Jaguars had an opening after ousting Doug Pederson, but like the Browns, they decided to retain their general manager, Trent Baalke.
After interviewing Coen for the position, Jaguars owner Shad Khan thought he had found his guy. The only problem? Coen didn't see eye-to-eye with Baalke. He withdrew his name from consideration, and in one of the most shocking moves of the cycle, Khan fired Baalke to encourage Coen to take the job. From there, Coen effectively chose his own general manager, James Gladstone, who worked with him when both were with the Los Angeles Rams.
Whether the candidate winds up being Brian Flores, Jesse Minter, Kliff Kingsbury, Chris Shula, Klint Kubiak, or any of the other top candidates this cycle, will the Browns ruin their chances with one of them because of the GM's abysmal track record? It's a very real possibility.
In what seems like a recent trend, coaches like Coen — and Ben Johnson two years ago when he withdrew from consideration for the Commanders job — are being more selective. The unfortunate reality for a head coach is that they almost always end up getting fired. With the stakes so high, it needs to be the perfect fit when they do take the plunge.
It's hard to imagine any candidate viewing a pairing with Andrew Berry as the perfect fit. The track record speaks for itself. The roster, saddled with another enormous Deshaun Watson cap hit, is also hardly in an ideal spot. The worst-case scenario for the Browns would be having to settle for an inadequate hire because none of the top guys are interested in this position.
What remains to be seen is whether, when push comes to shove, Jimmy Haslam will have the gumption to relieve Andrew Berry if the ideal candidate isn't on the same page with him. Browns fans can only wait and hope.