It won’t come as a big surprise to find out that George Kokinis is back in Baltimore. After a tumultuous year that started with him being named GM of the Cleveland Browns and finished with him getting a settlement from the Browns after he was fired, Kokinis is pretty much right back where he started. Sure, he probably has a lot more money in his checking account, but I honestly wonder if it was worth it to him to go through the Cleveland Browns butter churn.
Before Kokinis left the friendly confines of Ozzie Newsome’s staff he was the Ravens’ Director of Pro Personnel. Upon his return, Kokinis will have the title of Senior Personal Personnel Assistant in Newsome’s team hierarchy. I joke about Kokinis being ineffective, but the further we get away from that ordeal, the more it seems like George never had a chance the way Mangini dug in his heels. Strangely enough, the further I get away from that thing, I even blame Mangini less and less.
Ozzie Newsome is happy to have Kokinis back though.
“It’s good to have George back,” Ravens G.M. Ozzie Newsome said in the team’s announcement. “George knows the game, understands what it takes to win, and he will help us find players who will help us win. He has done that before for us.”
In a way, assuming all continues to look promising with Mike Holmgren, we might one day be able to look fondly on George Kokinis’ tenure with the Browns as the straw that broke the British soccer team owning camel’s back. In the meantime, Scott made a good point in email this morning. It should be really interesting to see if any dirt comes flying out of the back channels of Baltimore concerning Kokinis’ tumultuous time in Berea. Even if there was a non-disclosure agreement as a part of Kokinis’ undisclosed settlement in which he was seeking somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 million from his 5-year $5 million deal, it wouldn’t surprise me to hear some interesting things come out.
I will listen intently, but I will also just be happy that era of the Cleveland Browns is in the past.
