Browns’ new hire becomes youngest GM in NFL
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 Monday by hiring him as their GM and executive vice president of football operations, a person familiar with the move confirmed. Berry received a five-year contract, the person said, and the Browns were expected to announce the hire Monday afternoon.
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 in Cleveland 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.
The Browns interviewed two other candidates for the GM job: Vikings assistant general manager George Paton and Patriots director of college scouting Monti Ossenfort.
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.
In the court of public opinion, Berry is guilty by association for the Browns passing on quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson by trading the draft picks (second and 12th overall) used to select them in 2016 and 2017.
The Browns also chose Pro Bowl defensive end Myles Garrett first overall in 2017, which would have turned out to the right decision if Super Bowl-bound Patrick Mahomes, picked 10th overall by the Chiefs, hadn’t become arguably the best young quarterback in the league.
Before joining the Browns the first time, Berry worked for the Colts from 2009 to 2015. He entered the NFL as a scouting assistant with them, ascended to pro scout in 2011 and then pro scouting coordinator in 2012.
He was a four-year starter, a three-time first-team all-Ivy League selection and a two-time All-American as a cornerback at Harvard, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in computer science.