(Paul DePodesta leaving) did, though, open up discussion of a restructure that might move GM Andrew Berry into a president-of-football-ops type of role—something that, at least at this point, looks like it won’t happen.
So with the team at the bottom of the AFC North for a second straight year, that leaves
ownership to decide who to go forward with. And the plan is to meet after Sunday’s season finale in Cincinnati to discuss that, with a decision on the future of Berry and Kevin Stefanski coming thereafter. Berry, at this point, seems likely to stay. Stefanski’s future is murkier, though the Haslams still like their coach and how he and Berry work together.
Speaking of the Browns, there was some league-wide chatter about the potential of a Kevin Stefanski trade—“smoke,” as one industry source put it—though the mechanics of a coaching trade are extremely difficult to pull off and, at least as of Friday, it didn’t feel imminent or even expected. That said, at the very least, it shows how highly Stefanski might be positioned in this coaching cycle if he were a rising coordinator. The ball will be in Cleveland’s court to manage a situation in which they have an asset who is coveted by other teams.