The Cleveland Browns have dramatically reshaped their front office so far since the start of the 2017 season, with the primary domino to fall being the removal of Sashi Brown, who was replaced by a more traditional football mind in John Dorsey.
Dorsey played for the Green Bay Packers and then cut his teeth in the scouting and executive worlds in the same spot before moving on to work with Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs from 2013 to 2016. The Browns wanted to move away from a harder ‘moneyball’ front office, which Brown represented, while Dorsey is regarded more as a traditional football mind. And he has since brought with him a number of former Packers front office personnel, including Eliot Wolf, whom he named assistant general manager.
The most recent addition appears to be Scot McCloughan. He, too, got his start with the Packers, serving as a regional scout from 1994 to 1999, but he later moved on to a number of other spots, most recently in Washington before he was fired due to substance abuse issues.
It does not appear to be a permanent position, though. According to Dan Labbe, the Browns are bringing in the former general manager “as a personnel consultant in order to assist during the draft”, which basically sounds like he is a temporary assistant general manager.
Dorsey has brought with him quite a few people with whom he has previously worked in Green Bay. That can be seen as either a good thing or as a bad thing. The Packers are regarded as one of the better teams in terms of drafting talent, yet they also spent time cleaning house both in the front office and on the coaching staff this offseason.
Labbe notes that the Browns are facing perhaps the biggest offseason in their recent history. Not only do they have the burden of attempting to climb out of a 1-31 hole over the past two years, and just the second 0-16 season ever, they are also expected to be able to climb out of it.
Not only do they have the draft resources, and the cap space, to basically build a new team, they also have a legitimate franchise quarterback likely to hit free agency in Kirk Cousins, whom McCloughan would know, having played his entire career up to this point in Washington.
But Labbe also points out that he has spoken highly of Baker Mayfield, one of the top quarterback prospects coming out for the draft this season. He likened Mayfield to “a shorter version of Brett Favre”, which would be an upgrade for a team who pretty much wishes they had Brett Hundley right now.
