The Cleveland Browns’ front office is in good hands these days with general manager Andrew Berry, who has been doing an excellent job in the last two drafts and has had a great offseason by rebuilding the offensive line over these past few months. He also crushed the Myles Garrett trade, which is the kind of move that could easily lead to a GM getting fired, but with the return he got of Jared Verse and three strong draft picks, Berry has been universally praised for his decision.
Of course, great front offices require far more than just one great decision-maker. Berry has had plenty of reliable execs around him in recent years, but one recent departure could wind up being a bigger loss than originally expected.
Alec Lewis of The Athletic recently wrote an article about new Minnesota Vikings assistant GM Andrew Healy, who was poached from the Browns after ten years in Cleveland. Minnesota hired him earlier this month, and his tenure as VP of Research and Strategy for the Browns has now come to an end.
“He’s a little bit like a unicorn,” Dom Borsani, a Browns offensive analyst, said. “He has the research background and history and technical aptitude. But he also has the ability to evaluate from a traditional scouting lens. And he understands coaching schemes, so he can see guys in college and interpret their assignments.”
Healy was not only a go-to guy in Cleveland’s front office when it came to player evaluations, but he is considered by some to be one of the smartest men in football.
Zach Zelinsky, formerly Cleveland’s senior software developer who is now the director of baseball systems for the Arizona Diamondbacks, went even further: “He is probably the smartest guy I’ve worked with in sports.”
The last two draft classes and a stellar Myles Garrett trade were some solid parting gifts for Healy to leave this organization, but it’s still going to hurt losing an executive with that kind of talent. Losing longtime chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta to the Colorado Rockies months ago wasn’t easy either, so this front office has some work to do to ensure operations continue running smoothly.
Berry needs to be leaned on now more than ever, and thankfully he seems to be improving year over year. Many were calling for his head a few years back, but he has restored a lot of faith with this organization and should be trusted to have a strong contingency plan to replace Healy’s impact.
NEXT: Insider Names Andrew Berry's Best Trades As GM
