Browns fire GM; Jackson retained

CLEVELAND — Sashi Brown brought analytics, a bevy of draft picks and some stability to the Cleveland Browns.

In the end, losing mattered most.

With the Browns not winning and still the NFL’s saddest franchise, owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam decided it was time to make yet another change at the top before things got any worse. Unable to produce more than one win over two seasons, Brown was fired Thursday by the Haslams, who jettisoned their lead football executive but chose to keep coach Hue Jackson around for another season despite a 1-27 record.

While announcing Brown’s firing, which was expected given the team’s sorry state, Jimmy Haslam also said Jackson will return in 2018.

“I appreciate Jimmy saying that,” Jackson said after practice as the Browns (0-12) prepared to host the Green Bay Packers (6-6) on Sunday. “My focus of coming here to the Cleveland Browns is to coach the football team and help get this organization turned around. I haven’t been able to do that yet. That is something that I think we all want to do — Jimmy and Dee, obviously.”

Brown positioned the Browns to be better in the future by acquiring more draft picks, but his decision to pass on quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson in the past two drafts and other questionable choices regarding the roster sealed his fate. Jackson’s survival would indicate he won a power struggle over Brown, the team’s former legal counsel who had no previous experience running a team.