Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry has earned a great deal of credit and praise for improving the team through its past two draft classes. But Berry hasn’t done it alone, with a strong staff supporting those efforts.
Now, with those players and other moves paying off in a rise in the standings, members of the Browns front office are starting to draw notice. The Indianapolis Colts fired their GM this week, which means they are looking for a replacement, and they could turn to Cleveland for that solution.
Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic has named Browns executives Catherine Hickman and Glenn Cook as potential GM candidates for the Colts.
“While the Deshaun Watson trade (made before Hickman joined the staff) has been an anchor on the organization, the Browns have drafted incredibly well over the last two years and how they’ve turned over their roster may interest the Colts. Like Hickman, Cook has worked closely with Berry to turn over the Browns’ roster, especially through high-profile trades (like sending Myles Garrett to the Rams in June) and through the draft,” Rodrigue wrote.
Berry worked in the Colts’ scouting department from 2009 to 2016, and Rodrigue reports that he was instructive to current owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon as she learned the ropes of her family’s organization. According to Rodrigue, “Berry’s endorsement of any candidate may hold some weight.”
Hickman’s current title is assistant GM and vice president of football operations. A native of Quebec, she left her career as a lawyer and started her football journey in the CFL a decade ago.
After interviewing for the Minnesota Vikings’ GM job in 2022, she joined the Browns’ front office later that year. She is currently the highest-ranking female team personnel executive in the NFL, overseeing all aspects of roster construction.
Cook is Cleveland’s assistant GM and vice president of player personnel. His first NFL job was with the Colts as an assistant under Berry, and he joined the Browns’ scouting department in 2016. Cook worked his way up through the organization, earning his present role in 2022, and interviewed for the Tennessee Titans’ GM job in 2023.
This is not to say that the departure of Hickman or Cook is imminent or even probable. Indianapolis fired Chris Ballard on Monday and named Ed Dodds as his current replacement, with rumors already linking former Colts great Peyton Manning to the job.
In fact, Rodrigue names more than 35 potential candidates, including Philadelphia Eagles assistant GM Adam Berry, who is Andrew Berry’s twin brother, so this will be a process to follow over the coming weeks and months.
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