Who is the Browns' General Manager for the 2013 off-season?

[kiji]

There's been some slight adjustments to the top of the organizational chart and some title changes, but everything is still basically the same as it goes down the ladder. Haslem is at the very top and only Banner answers directly to him. That branches off into the President on the business side (Scheiner), and to the GM or equivalent on the football side.

Scheiner's job doesn't seem to be in any direct relation to anything to do with players, although he has enough authority within the organization to drop in his two cents. He'll be involved in sales, team events, stadium issues, fireworks, white flag day.. that kind of thing.

The GM or whatever they call that position, probably depends on who the coach is. If it's someone like Saban the GM may just be a personnel guy that Saban trusts. He could be on an equal or even a slightly lesser position as far as personnel matters are concerned. Butch Davis had a similar situation going, except he didn't have a Banner type guy over him. A Saban-type coach would want control over the roster and have a larger say in the draft or free agents. A McDaniels-type would probably have much less of a say overall, but may still be able to choose the 53. One thing that Banner has made clear is that he wants the coach to have an input on the roster. As of now, Heckert has technical authority over the draft and players on the roster. Heckert has just never used that full authority. He works with Mangini and Shurmur even though he doesn't really have to.

I really don't think any of this means that Banner is going to be sitting around scouting guys out of the WAC. He may take a look at some of the guys the personnel staff likes in a quality control sort of way though. At least I hope. Holmgren did this too, except under the name President. Obviously as a former SB coach nobody was concerned, but he was pretty bad as his own GM, so perhaps Holmgren's say on this would have even been stronger than what Banner will have.

Despite the confusion of the coaching staff and GM role, the moves actually made so far have improved the business side of the team in impressive fashion. Haslem/Banner/Scheiner could very well be an all-star cast. These people will create a buzz. Even though they're all business guys, you don't get the sense that they're going to be doing anything on the cheap. The question is if they can carry that over to the football side of things. Probably much more difficult a proposition for those people.

[The Voice]

Pickups: CB: Patterson : BUST
Sheldon Brown: Good veteran presence, but should be a backup or moved to FS.
Gocong: Good first year, but been out with injury since.
Fujita: BUST, not worth the money given to him.
Parker: Good depth pickup for the D-Line
Rucker: Same as Parker.

[JMcCurry08]

The undrafted rookies he's picked up Fort, Robertson, Cooper, Gipson and Bademosi have been productive when they play. Bademosi is a special teams stud, Robertson has started most if not all season. Fort was productive until JMJ returned. Gipson just made a big interception against KC. Cooper i believe can be a Wes Welker type when given the PT

[DaNewCavs]

NFL Reference gives a rating called career approximate value for each player in the NFL. It's not 100% accurate but it pretty closely follows the success and failures of a player. To give an example Clay Matthews currently has a career value of 36 the highest in his draft class. Alex Mack has a career value of 14. I compared all of our drafts with the drafts of the other teams in the AFC North. The Browns are competing most with the Bengals, Ravens and Steelers so having better drafts then them is of greatest importance. Below is what the scoring came out split out by GM/Coach:

1999 - 2000 Clark
Steelers - 432
Ravens - 339
Browns - 260
Bengals 182

2001 - 2004 Davis
Bengals - 673
Ravens - 622
Steelers - 606
Browns - 521

2005 - 2008 Savage
Ravens - 433
Steelers - 352
Bengals - 306
Browns - 306

2009 - Mangini
Bengals - 60
Steelers - 57
Ravens - 41
Browns - 38

2010 - 2011 - Heckert
Browns - 73
Bengals - 66
Steelers - 55
Ravens - 39

Comparing drafting since 1999, every FO has been the worst or second worst at drafting. Only the Bengals in the Clark era and Davis era was as bad or worst. Since Heckert took over, it's the first time we've drafted better than all of our AFC North rivals. It shows that we are closing the gap in talent on the field. Now this doesn't count this year as they have not compiled grades for the 2012 season, but I think everyone agrees that 2012 was one of Heckert's better drafts. Did he hit on everyone. No. But he is evaluating talent better than his rivals and closing the talent gap between the Browns and the rest of the AFC North.

[Phills14]

NFL Reference gives a rating called career approximate value for each player in the NFL. It's not 100% accurate but it pretty closely follows the success and failures of a player. To give an example Clay Matthews currently has a career value of 36 the highest in his draft class. Alex Mack has a career value of 14. I compared all of our drafts with the drafts of the other teams in the AFC North. The Browns are competing most with the Bengals, Ravens and Steelers so having better drafts then them is of greatest importance. Below is what the scoring came out split out by GM/Coach:

1999 - 2000 Clark
Steelers - 432
Ravens - 339
Browns - 260
Bengals 182

2001 - 2004 Davis
Bengals - 673
Ravens - 622
Steelers - 606
Browns - 521

2005 - 2008 Savage
Ravens - 433
Steelers - 352
Bengals - 306
Browns - 306

2009 - Mangini
Bengals - 60
Steelers - 57
Ravens - 41
Browns - 38

2010 - 2011 - Heckert
Browns - 73
Bengals - 66
Steelers - 55
Ravens - 39

Comparing drafting since 1999, every FO has been the worst or second worst at drafting. Only the Bengals in the Clark era and Davis era was as bad or worst. Since Heckert took over, it's the first time we've drafted better than all of our AFC North rivals. It shows that we are closing the gap in talent on the field. Now this doesn't count this year as they have not compiled grades for the 2012 season, but I think everyone agrees that 2012 was one of Heckert's better drafts. Did he hit on everyone. No. But he is evaluating talent better than his rivals and closing the talent gap between the Browns and the rest of the AFC North.

Love it, great research and great post. Thanks

[DCunleaded]

DaNewCavs-great find with this quantifiable drafting formula. I'd be interested in seeing how Philadelphia has looked relative to Heckert; before, during, and after TH was the GM over there.

NFL reference....looks like I've found a new site to sponge up info.

[Doc Shakalou]

DaNewCavs-great find with this quantifiable drafting formula. I'd be interested in seeing how Philadelphia has looked relative to Heckert; before, during, and after TH was the GM over there.

NFL reference....looks like I've found a new site to sponge up info.

It would be interesting, but I'm not sure how much good it would do as Reid was/is making the final call.

[The Voice]

The undrafted rookies he's picked up Fort, Robertson, Cooper, Gipson and Bademosi have been productive when they play. Bademosi is a special teams stud, Robertson has started most if not all season. Fort was productive until JMJ returned. Gipson just made a big interception against KC. Cooper i believe can be a Wes Welker type when given the PT

Never will happen.

[Zombie dmhtfld]

Never will happen.

Josh Cooper is a poor mans Mike Furrey.

[b00bie]

Josh Cooper is a poor mans Mike Furrey.

They do need help at safety

[Zombie dmhtfld]

They do need help at safety

True but throwing some white guy not named Weddle, Leonhard or Zbikowski out there is only gonna hurt us.

[GonzoRatso88]

This talk of Lombardi coming to Cleveland IMO is all coming from Lombardi. The only reason it continues to fester is because Banner won't squash it. Haslam is a very involved owner and he knows the backlash such a move would have from fans and other NFL organizations. I think its a PR nightmare to hire Lombardi and Haslam knows it. Haslam has been getting input from Robert Kraft and other owners (thats why you hear of the McDaniels talk) and it seems obvious that Lombardi hasnt had a job in an NFL front office for years. Bellicheck, Bill Walsh and Saban never gave this guy a job and that should speak volumes to the Browns.

In terms of a new coach, if I had to bet $, I would give the edge to McDaniels and then Saban. If Saban doesnt win a ring this year then I dont think he leaves. Haslam wants to make a big splash in his first hire and wants an S.O.B. type, both of these guys fit the bill. I think Cowher and Gruden will stay on TV, although Gruden is intriguing. Mike McCoy is also a candidate due to his work with Orton, Tebow and Peyton, although I dont know what his personality traits are.

[Phills14]

The Lombardi rumor is slowing it seems. Hopefully that's a good sign. Shurmur and Heckert are gone Monday and you'd think you would hear more details coming out about Lombardi, but we aren't.

[DDJ7777]

If you guys watch Showtime's Inside the NFL, the guys rag on Lombardi every week about going to Cleveland. Hell, they were giving out Christmas gifts last week and they gave him a Browns hat because they said it was cold.. and I think they gave him Cleveland Real Estate listings.

[The Voice]

This talk of Lombardi coming to Cleveland IMO is all coming from Lombardi. The only reason it continues to fester is because Banner won't squash it. Haslam is a very involved owner and he knows the backlash such a move would have from fans and other NFL organizations. I think its a PR nightmare to hire Lombardi and Haslam knows it. Haslam has been getting input from Robert Kraft and other owners (thats why you hear of the McDaniels talk) and it seems obvious that Lombardi hasnt had a job in an NFL front office for years. Bellicheck, Bill Walsh and Saban never gave this guy a job and that should speak volumes to the Browns.

In terms of a new coach, if I had to bet $, I would give the edge to McDaniels and then Saban. If Saban doesnt win a ring this year then I dont think he leaves. Haslam wants to make a big splash in his first hire and wants an S.O.B. type, both of these guys fit the bill. I think Cowher and Gruden will stay on TV, although Gruden is intriguing. Mike McCoy is also a candidate due to his work with Orton, Tebow and Peyton, although I dont know what his personality traits are.

Even if he dismissed it people would say he's just dismissing it out of respect to the NFL network.