Browns’ hire becomes youngest GM

AKRON, Ohio – Time will tell whether Andrew Berry can successfully navigate the twists and turns he’ll encounter as general manager of the Browns.

But this much is certain: He already knows his way around team headquarters in Berea.

The Browns brought Berry back Jan. 27 by hiring him as their new general manager and executive vice president of football operations, two people familiar with the move confirmed.

Berry received a five-year contract, a source said, and the Browns were expected to announce the hire Jan. 28.

He served as a VP of player personnel with them from 2016 to 2018 but can expect a better parking space during his second tour because he now has control of the 53-man roster.

Berry, 32, became a favorite of owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam when he worked for the Browns the first time, and they didn’t want him to leave last year when he accepted a promotion by becoming the Eagles’ VP of football operations.

Chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta and Berry backed Kevin Stefanski’s head coaching bid last year, when Freddie Kitchens secured the job instead.

So the Browns are hopeful an Ivy League trio of Harvard University graduates DePodesta and Berry and University of Pennsylvania graduate Stefanski, hired Jan. 12 as Kitchens’ successor, will give them the alignment that has eluded a franchise plagued by power struggles and infighting since the Haslams purchased it in 2012.

The belief is DePodesta, Berry and Stefanski will be united by their strong commitment to analytics.

Berry will succeed John Dorsey, who, after two years on the job, became the fifth head of football to be fired or ousted on the Haslams’ watch. Dorsey and the owners mutually agreed Dec. 31 to part ways after he declined to accept a diminished role on the heels of the Browns going 6-10 in Kitchens’ lone season as a head coach.

Kitchens will be the Giants’ tight ends coach, a person with knowledge of the deal confirmed to NorthJersey.com.