NFL front offices feature more than just a general manager. In fact, many of the less-public-facing roles are filled by largely anonymous figures that fans (and analysts) couldn't pick out of a lineup. This cohort of executives nonetheless plays a significant role in the construction of the Cleveland Browns' roster year after year.
The Browns' weekend decision to hire former Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke as a consultant drew ire from various pundits who were quick to label him a two-time failure as a general manager. This, of course, ignores all nuance. It's the ultimate oversimplification. The reality is that adding someone with Baalke's eye for talent should undeniably make the Browns a better football team going forward.
Trent Baalke could be an X-factor for the Browns’ roster building
Trent Baalke's runs as general manager have provided perhaps the most tangible examples of the significance of hiring the right head coach to pair with your roster. Let's start with the 49ers. From 2011–2014, Baalke was paired with Jim Harbaugh. Those teams went 44–19–1, with each playoff run going to at least the NFC Championship game and one Super Bowl trip to boot. Following some dysfunction at the top of the organization, Harbaugh was fired after his fourth season.
Being paired with such "luminaries" as Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly helped sink the 49ers to the NFL's proverbial basement, and ultimately Baalke suffered the same fate as Harbaugh. From there, he had to bide his time until getting another top-level front office job with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2020.
He wound up taking on interim duties when longtime Jags GM David Caldwell was fired, holding onto the job as Jacksonville embraced perhaps the most disastrous head coach hire in NFL history — Urban Meyer. Given a mulligan for the 2021 season with Meyer, who proved surprisingly incompetent as a coach at the NFL level, Baalke went conventional with his next hire, opting for former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson.
Pederson had some success in Jacksonville, though his noted rigidity with his staff ultimately led to his ouster. The subsequent coaching search proved damaging not only to Baalke's employment status, but to his reputation as well. The apple of Jaguars owner Shahid Khan's eye, Liam Coen, pulled out of the coaching search at the prospect of having to be tied to Baalke. Khan made the bold move to relieve the GM of his duties, effectively giving Coen the ability to choose his own boss.
Where things get interesting is in the Jaguars' turnaround last season. Eight of the 11 starters on offense were holdovers from Baalke's tenure, including quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne. On defense, there were only two new starters. The takeaway is obvious: Baalke built the nucleus of the Jaguars team that won 13 games last season.
Credit Liam Coen for coaxing out the talent we've all seen from Trevor Lawrence, albeit inconsistently, throughout his young career. In doing so, let's not forget the pieces around him that helped him succeed.
While the reception for a front office executive, especially one with limited power, will never rival a Super Bowl parade, Browns fans should be stoked about this addition. Baalke has proven his ability to evaluate football players and build talented rosters in multiple locales. If the Browns' history says anything, it's that they can use all the help they can get. Trent Baalke represents a valuable resource to get it.
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