Browns may look to Pats’ Pioli as next GM
Butch Davis is out, so what’s next in Cleveland?
The Browns pulled the plug on Davis 3 1/2 years into his ill-fated tenure as coach and general manager, leaving the franchise searching for answers about its direction. But don’t be surprised to see the Browns look east for a general manager who can solve problems that have afflicted them since they returned to the NFL as an expansion franchise in 1999.
The name we keep hearing: Scott Pioli.
The Patriots’ personnel director is one of the most highly respected front-office executives in the game, although he’s a relative unknown to the public because Bill Belichick is the dominant personality in New England. But Pioli cut his teeth in Cleveland during Belichick’s run as the Browns’ coach in the ‘90s. Pioli has since blossomed into one of the league’s leading personnel men.
Belichick brought Pioli to the Jets when the two worked under Bill Parcells, and Pioli was one of Belichick’s first hires when he took the Patriots’ job in 2000.
Another name being mentioned as a possible general manager in Cleveland is Ozzie Newsome, the Browns’ Hall of Fame tight end. But it’s tough to picture Baltimore letting its prized general manager get away to a divisional rival. Unless Newsome wants out of Baltimore, the Browns’ best bet is Pioli.
If Pioli gets the job, look for him to bring in one of New England’s coordinators as the head coach. Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis are ready to take the next step. The front-runner would be Weis, whose imaginative schemes would be a good fit for Cleveland’s struggling offense.
Return of the tight end
It was only a few years ago that coaches and general managers were bemoaning the lack of quality tight ends in the NFL, but the trend has reversed itself.
When Parcells was coach of the Giants, he theorized that college basketball had siphoned off many would-be tight ends – the 6-foot-5, 240-pound guys who chose to be power forwards instead. But now it’s the other way around. Consider: Tony Gonzalez of the Chiefs chose football over basketball, and so has Chargers second-year tight end Antonio Gates, a former star basketball player at Kent State. Gates, who didn’t play college football, is having a Pro Bowl season and has become a favorite target of Drew Brees.
Alge Crumpler of the Falcons recently signed a six-year, $27 million contract, thereby keeping him off the free-agent market in 2005.
One of the big differences between the modern-day tight end and the traditional one is how he’s used in the passing game. Tight ends often lined up tight to the formation years ago, but more and more, they’re being split out as wide receivers, which creates huge matchup problems for defenses.