May 22, 2013

Tom Heckert Visits Cleveland, Cancels Seattle Trip

January 7, 2010 by 26 Comments

EaglesHeckert3Amidst all of the Josh Cribbs controversy is the ongoing search for a general manger of the Cleveland Browns.  As reported here two days prior, Philadelphia Eagles general manager Tom Heckert spent a few hours in Berea to discuss his possible future along side Mike Holmgren. 

While there has been no reported contract offered to Heckert, WFNY has been told that things went very well.  Echoing a report that surfaced in The Plain Dealer, we have heard that Heckert has canceled his trip to Seattle where he was to interview for their vacant general manager position. 

Also heading to Cleveland for an interview is Seattle’s current director of pro personnel Will Lewis.  While this interview would in fact satisfy the infamous Rooney Rule, The OBR reports that there is a possibility that multiple high-level individuals are added to the Browns front office.  Heckert, as reported, may be in line for a position that would in fact be a layer in between Holmgren and the would-be general manager.

For those that are concerned about the “cart before the horse” decision of retaining a head coach without a GM, keep in mind that any candidates that are currently with other teams must wait until their respective seasons come to a conclusion prior to accepting positions elsewhere within the NFL.  With Eric Mangini and staff being retained, the rest of the front office building blocks appear to be coming to fruition, all during Holmgren’s first week on the job.

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(Yong Kim / Philadelphia Daily News)

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  • Jackson

    Multiple high level front office people? Do we really need to bring in 4-5 highly paid front office types when he already are paying Holmgren a ton. Take some of that money and give Cribbs his $3M a year…

  • MrCleaveland

    Friend of mine in the real estate biz says that Josh Cribbs just sold his horse in Strongsville.

    (Sorry)

  • http://www.msblsim.com/ bOOgeyman

    ^^^^LoL just another athlete who’s bottom line is $$$$! I guess forgetting you signed a contract and that said contract still has three years remaining doesn’t mean a thing. I give Cribbs credit for his play and how he’s earned a raise but for every off the field tantrum and rant by him and his people I lose a little respect. I guess he forgot about all of the financial woes the common man has or maybe he just doesn’t care. Well you know what as much as I love sports and root for the hometown Cleveland teams I’m tired of athletes who act like Cribbs. I thought a WR prima dona was bad now we have to deal with a special teams one! If the Browns could find someone to give them a #1 for Cribbs I’d consider it. Maybe Heckert or the next GM can get it done.

  • Jackson

    I would hardly call the guy a prima donna. He plays hard everyday and has been strung along all year being told he would get taken care of. NFL is a pay now league, Cribbs could blow out his knee in the Pro Bowl and the Browns would release him the next day so contracts don’t mean much.

    Bottom line, the Browns are being bush league here and it will hurt their ability to attract big time FAs. If you can get a first rounder great, but what gives you any faith the Browns will use the pick wisely based on their drafting history…

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Scott

    Mr C – I’m picking up what you’re putting down.

  • milton

    Jackson – I’d argue that Cribbs’ agent (and by extension Cribbs) are the ones being bush-league about this.

    Cribbs was a good soldier this year. The new sheriff in town has said he’s take care of him. The HC that said he’d take care of him has just been retained. Beyond that, all we have to go on is Cribbs/Schaffer’s posturing.

    Cribbs will get his–assuming he doesn’t piss off the PTBs and force his way out of town thanks to his agent deciding it’s better to negotiate in the media and Cribbs doing his best impression of Tila Tequila’s twitter rants.

  • milton

    As to the topic at hand, successful franchises have clearly defined personnel divisions, directors of pro personnel, directors of college scouting, etc.

    Exactly how many of those positions are filled or open with the Browns? I think it’s been some time since we’ve had a full complement of staff and leaders for the Browns. Holmgren is on the right track here.

  • http://www.msblsim.com/ bOOgeyman

    Jackson #4 maybe prima dona wasn’t the right word but when I see and hear the things coming out of the Cribbs camp I can’t help but feel something along those lines. I agree with you about what would happen if he got hurt and the shoe was on the other foot but that’s the nature of football. Besides this I think this example proves why it would be in the Browns best interest not to overpay for a SPECIAL TEAMS player even if that SPECIAL TEAMS player might be the best SPECIAL TEAMS player in the league. Being the best SPECIAL TEAMS player doesn’t equate to being the best QB, WR, RB, CB, S or LB in the game, it just doesn’t. Maybe if Josh Cribbs doesn’t play again he can take a business management course at Kent State and learn about contracts! :)

  • bobby

    So will Heckert perhaps be a VP of Fb Ops and Lewis going to the GM role, where each technically get a raise but in reality glorified of what they already do? Also, will Heckert get final say of the roster over Holmgren? There are a few question marks I still have with this, but I would love to see Heckert here with the 11 picks we have.

  • Jackson

    I don’t think anyone is saying he should be paid like a top position player in the leauge (QB, RB, etc). I am just saying he is worth what he is asking ($2.5-$3M) which is comparable to other high level kick returners/sometime offensive players (Roscoe Jenkins, Andre Davis). I don’t advocate giving him Hester money ($4-5M), but I don’t consider what he is asking to be that outrageous for what he brings to the field.

    The frustrating thing is they will let go of him when he played his heart out and was a relatively good solider on an awful team, then turnaround and give some stiff, middle of the road FA receiver or unproven draft pick a $4-5M a year deal. This organization can never just get things right…

  • milton

    “Also, will Heckert get final say of the roster over Holmgren?”

    He’ll have to have it in his contract to get out of Philadelphia.

    It’ll probably look just like Miami: Jeff Ireland has final say over the roster. But I don’t think Bill Parcells is exactly out of the loop there…

  • jimkanicki

    my take is that josh is a sincere, trusting, emotional guy. he lives his life with integrity and expected the same from the browns.

    not only is he the most complete football player on the team, he’s the guy you’d most want in the foxhole with you.

    and for pete’s sake: he’s partying down at applebee’s!? how cleveland is that?

    last point for anyone who thinks he’s greedy… check his xmas tree –> http://twitpic.com/v37s0 ..

    the guy just wants what’s fair. PAY HIM!!!!!!!

  • EZ

    I’m pretty sure whatever position Dawn Aponte occupies will be vacant pretty soon.

  • EZ

    Also, a note for people that are touting Cribbs as S/T only, he led the team in rushing in the Pittsburgh game. If Cribbs is restricted to S/T it’s because the offensive coaching staff don’t have the imagination to put him into the offense.

  • MC

    Scott, wondering your reasoning behind saying that the Rooney rule is “infamous.” Do you not like the idea of giving minorities a chance at interviewing for a position? You guys have written several times about the “infamous” Rooney Rule, and would to know more about your feelings on this subject.

  • http://gravatar.com PayDaMan

    The Rooney Rule is degrading IMO. Who wants to be invited to party because the hosts mom told you too.

  • http://gravatar.com PayDaMan

    To clarify what I was saying above: Who wants to be invited to a party only because the hosts mom made him invite you to the party.

  • EZ

    Worked out pretty well for Mike Tomlin.

  • bobby

    I think the Rooney Rule is a joke.I would not like to be invited for a job that has probably already been filled, just because of a physical trait i have. If its for merit thats one thing, but many people get interviewed simply as a technicality and thats unfair for a lot of people.

  • EZ

    Well if you look at NFL GM/coaching jobs it’s mostly a network of who knows who, and who’s already worked with who. Looking at the ranks of NFL coaches pre-2000, it seems a lot of candidates have, by default, been selected by that same physical trait.

  • Matt

    The Rooney rule is a complete joke. As others said, it’s more insulting than not for the minority candidate when he’s just a formality.

    It’s a well-intentioned rule at say a company where hiring policies are kept in-house and thus not known to potential minority candidates and other job candidates. However, this is obviously not the case here with a huge entity like the NFL. Therefore, I believe it is a horrendous, backwards rule.

  • ClevelandSouth

    Is it mean to say that any extra level between Randy and the field is a good level?

  • JackGonzo

    Of course it worked out for Mike Tomlin, and would have if the rule wouldn’t have been in place, he interviewed WITH THE ROONEYS.

    At face value, yes, I think the rule should be in place. It gives some candidates some valuable experience interviewing for a high level position, as long as they don’t know it’s a farce. Where the rule hurts is situations like the Redskins this year where they “interviewed” Gray, but we all knew they were hiring Shanahan. Here, Holmgren would be interviewing Lewis no matter the rule, but even then it’s a who you know thing.

    The Rule itself isn’t the problem, having owners like Dan Snyder is.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Scott

    I’m indifferent towards the rule – its just discussed a lot this time of year, thus my use of infamous. Perhaps poor word choice, but I’m neither for of against.

  • Jay

    Do we ever stay on topic in these posts? LOL.

    I agree with Milton (and his red stapler) that Holmgren is definitely on the right track. I thought Heckert would be a lock for GM, but maybe he’s going to be the buffer between Holmgren and the GM. What is that? VP of football operations? ( I think it was bobby that said that?) I like the idea of building the front office up as much as possible.

    Regarding Josh Cribbs: I do think the Browns will do right by him, but I don’t agree with Cribbs methods of going about it. It’s a long way to training camp, and I think he jumped the gun a little bit. Here’s an interesting stat I found, courtesy of Pro Football Reference dot com:

    Josh Cribbs had 2,510 all purpose yards in 2009. That’s good for 5th, ALL TIME. (He’s also 27th all time with 2,312 in 2007. Jim Brown is 69th all time with 2,131 in 1963, FWIW.)

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  • http://www.msblsim.com boogeyman

    Jackson #10 I’m all for giving Cribbs a new deal, he’s earned it, however the tactics he and his “new” agent/group are employing are the complete opposite of how he plays the game on the field. On the field the guy would run through a brick wall yet off the field he’s a complete cry baby. I mean we cannot forget how this all started: He signed a contract which he was perfectly happy with then after playing well he decided he was underpaid and now he’s taking his ball and going home. I’m sorry but I thought Josh Cribbs was a big boy? Now don’t get me wrong I’m sure the pre-Holmgren Browns were less then easy to deal with but the fact that Holmgren said in his first press conference that he would deal with Cribbs should have at least bought the new Holmgren headed Browns more then 24-48 hours because I do believe he has far more important things to do then resign a SPECIAL TEAMS player who has three years left on his current contract. Call me crazy! Oh and Josh Cribbs is no LeBron James, nevah!!!