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Reports: Browns hire Andrew Berry to be new general manager

Posted at 12:44 PM, Jan 27, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-27 12:54:09-05

BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns have agreed to hire Andrew Berry to be the team’s general manager, according to NFL’s Ian Rapoport.

Berry, 32, who agreed to a five-year deal, according to reports, will be the youngest general manager in the NFL. He will also serve as the executive vice president of football operations.

Berry will be working with newly named head coach Kevin Stefanski, replacing John Dorsey, who the team “mutually parted ways with” in December.

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Berry is coming from the Philadelphia Eagles where he worked as the vice president of football operations. He was the Browns’ former vice president of player personnel from 2016 to 2018, as well as a pro scout, pro scouting coordinator and scouting assistant for the Indianapolis Colts, where he won four AFC South titles, made five postseason appearances and made it to Super Bowl XLIV.

Since 1946, the Browns have had 15 general managers, not including Berry. Berry joins Dorsey, Sashi Brown, Ray Farmer, Michael Lombardi, Tom Heckert, George Kokinis, Phil Savage, Butch Davis, Dwight Clack, Ozzie Newsome, Bill Belichick, Ernie Accorsi, Peter Hadhazy, Harold Sauerbrei and Paul Brown to hold the position with the Browns.

With the hiring of Berry, owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam believe the team has found alignment, something they have been searching for since buying the Browns in 2012.

“If you looked at the other 31 teams, there are all kinds of different structures, but if you look at the successful organizations that are consistently in the playoffs year after year, there is alignment within the organization and they have the right people in the right place – coach and GM. That is what we are focusing on tremendously, and that alignment is something that is really, really important,” Jimmy Haslam said in a press conference prior to the hiring of Stefanski and Berry.

Berry and Stefanski and Paul DePodesta, the Browns chief strategy officer, all have Ivy League connections. Berry is a Harvard graduate and played cornerback for the Crimson. Stefanski is a Penn graduate and played defensive back for the Quakers. DePodesta, like Berry, is a Harvard graduate and played both football and baseball for the Crimson.

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