Cleveland Browns: John Dorsey firing signals another rebuild
The Cleveland Browns have parted ways with John Dorsey, signaling sweeping changes for an organization all too familiar with rebuilds.
The Cleveland Browns parted ways with John Dorsey on Tuesday in the most shocking organizational change since the regular season came to an end.
Dorsey follows head coach Freddie Kitchens out of the door after a Browns season in which they spectacularly failed to live up to the hype. The Browns finished 6-10 following a Week 17 defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cleveland will have a top-10 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft as a result of their struggles, but it is a major shock Dorsey will not be deciding who they select with that choice.
A former general manager with the Kansas City Chiefs, Dorsey is one of the most respected personnel executives in the NFL. His arrival was expected to bring an end to the prolonged losing that has defined the Browns since their return to the NFL in 1999.
That they have been unable to do so since he took over in 2017 is largely down to the poor coaching of Hue Jackson and then Kitchens, but Dorsey’s role in the decision to hire the latter likely played a key role in his dismissal.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, one source said it felt as if Dorsey and his staff had lost a battle to chief strategist Paul DePodesta, who has been with the franchise since 2016.
It remains to be seen if DePodesta will take an even more prominent role in the organization but, regardless of how the Browns replace Dorsey, his successor will likely want to make changes to the roster. Some players will not mesh with the new personnel chief’s vision for the team and there are sure to be plenty of casualties of this latest upheaval.
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With the amount of talent the Browns have on both sides of the ball, some may see this as a reload, rather than a rebuild. Irrespective of how these moves are labeled, sweeping changes are coming to the Browns once again, and the long-suffering fans will hope they finally yield results.