Browns part ways with Highsmith, Wolf
The Cleveland Browns have decided to part ways with VP of Player Personnel Alonzo Highsmith and Assistant GM Eliot Wolf.
This was something that everyone saw coming from a mile away. Once Cleveland hired Andrew Berry to be their next general manager, the clock on Alonzo Highsmith’s time with the Browns began ticking.
Alonzo Highsmith doesn’t seem to be too torn up on his departure.
Assistant General Manager Eliot Wolf’s status with the team is unclear.
Eliot Wolf could very well be on his way out too. Although, there is a possibility he remains with the Browns. Even though that possibility seems to be rather slim.
A later update confirmed that the Browns and Wolf have parted ways.
The Browns have also parted ways with their Director of College Scouting Steve Malin.
Will the Browns plan work? Nobody knows
These are a lot of bold moves for a group who have a lot of questions surrounding their ability to evaluate talent. They may have played the game. They may have been around other people who have put together good football teams. What that does not mean is that they know how to properly evaluate talent or put together a football team.
At some point there will have to someone who can evaluate talent in the room. If not, they are just finding a different path towards failure. It is not about being a “football guy”, it is about knowing what will or will not work on the football field.
Letting Alonzo Highsmith, Steve Malin, and Eliot Wolf will lead to even more questions about their process. This will also lead each move they make to be placed under a microscope. Analyzed to the point of exhaustion that will only lead to even more arguments and criticisms about whatever it is they’re doing.
Like it or not, coming out in this fashion with personnel moves is welcoming the criticism. This regime believes they have it right, that they know how to properly build a team and construct a winning roster. Very few people outside of the Browns organization believe they know what they’re doing. Either everyone else in the world is wrong about their ability to run a football team or they actually have no idea what they’re doing.
Andrew Berry, Paul DePodesta, and Kevin Stefanski better hope they are right. If not, the quick trigger that Jimmy Haslam possesses could come into play and they could be out of a job just as fast as they got the job in the first place.
