It looks like the Cleveland Browns will replace former assistant GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah with another trailblazer.
Catherine Raiche, the fastest-rising woman in the NFL, is expected to join the Browns organization.
While the team has not announced a formal title, it sounds like she will slide into an assistant GM role in Berea.
The news was first reported by Tony Grossi of TheLandonDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
NFL trailblazer Catherine Raiche on Browns radar for high-ranking football position. via TLOD https://t.co/u9hAGNcIau
— Tony Grossi (@TonyGrossi) May 4, 2022
Browns’ general manager Andrew Berry worked with Raiche during his time with the Philadelphia Eagles.
In 2019, Raiche was the Eagles’ “Football Operations Coordinator” while Berry served as VP of Football Operations.
Raiche’s team bio says she was involved in all football and personnel operations, including contracts and scouting.
Minnesota interviewed Raiche for the GM role that ultimately went to Adofo-Mensah.
Raiche’s Meteoric Rise
Raiche is a native of Montreal and broke into football as an intern with the CFL’s Alouettes in 2015.
She quickly became their coordinator of football administration and the Canadian league’s first woman executive.
Another promotion to assistant general manager preceded a move to the Toronto Argonauts.
When Marc Trestman, the former Browns offensive coordinator, left Toronto for the XFL, Raiche went with him.
Eagles VP football operations Catherine Raiche to join Cleveland in a front-office role with assistant GM-like responsibilities, source confirms to @usatodaysports. Raiche has risen Eagles ranks after CFL, XFL stints. Reunites with GM Andrew Berry, whom she worked with in Philly.
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) May 3, 2022
After that ill-fated league ceased operations, Raiche got her big break with the NFL.
Philadelphia’s Howie Roseman hired Raiche and Berry before the 2019 season.
And when Berry left to become the Browns’ general manager, Raiche stepped into his VP role with the Eagles.
Raiche is the first woman to hold an executive football operations post with the Browns.
Cleveland Continues To Break Barriers
Cleveland has a long history of breaking hiring barriers in the NFL.
And this current administration under Dee and Jimmy Haslam is no different.
Callie Brownson recently broke the gender barrier in coaching when Kevin Stefanski tapped her as his chief of staff.
This season, Brownson will take on the assistant receivers coach’s responsibilities.
#Browns Chief of Staff Callie Brownson will remain in that position, but will have more on her plate this season as she takes on the role of assistant wide receivers coach as well.
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) February 25, 2022
Raiche’s climb through the NFL ranks is impressive, but she is not the highest-ranking female in NFL history.
Former Philadelphia Eagles owner, Leonard Tose, named his daughter general manager of the team in 1983.
Unfortunately, that breakthrough did not open the door for many to follow.
Here’s hoping Raiche and Brownson are part of a larger trend for women in the NFL.
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