While We’re Waiting… What a night in Cleveland
May 7, 2013Indians 7, Athletics 3: Ubaldo & The Long Ball Sink A’s
May 7, 2013We’ve all just had a lesson in how front offices turn over in an off-season. It feels like a relatively new lesson here in Cleveland. The Browns have decided not to renew some contracts of scouts that were in Berea under former General Manager Tom Heckert.
The timing of waiting until after the draft is apparently pretty commonplace. In Denver the Broncos let Keith Kidd depart after being there since 2009 with Josh McDaniels. That vacated a spot for Tom Heckert who has reportedly joined the organization as Director of Pro Personnel.
In Denver, that position means that Heckert will be underneath John Elway who is the executive vice president of football operations and also the general manager. There’s little doubt that wherever Heckert goes he will have plenty of influence with his resume. Still, it’s interesting how different organizations choose to organize and function.
It will also be a very different task in Denver than it was in Cleveland. Heckert will look to help make every second that’s left of Peyton Manning’s career successful while also helping to plan for the day that Manning can no longer play. It’s not exactly like dealing with Seneca Wallace, Colt McCoy, Eric Mangini and Pat Shurmur on the way to seeing the team sold out from under your five year plan.
[Related: Browns thoughts on Terry Pluto, ProFootballTalk, “black boxes,” and draft strategy]
5 Comments
I hate to say it because it is Denver, but they are a great organization and I imagine that Heckert is utilizing it as a way to get back to having GM-control of another team in a year or two. Good for him.
Agreed, I was going to make a comment along the same lines. Elway seems to do a number of things well, but I’d be surprised if he’s got a gift for player evaluation. It seems like this is a perfect fit for Heckert where he will still have the loudest voice in the draft room and in free agency.
What a cherry picker sheesh!
Isn’t the job of the Director or Pro Personnel to evaluate players already in the league to determine if they would be worthwhile acquisitions in the future? Which of Heckert’s two free agency signings led the Broncos to believe that he was particularly qualified on this regard, the Jake Delhomme signing or the Frostee Rucker signing?
At least he found something. Good job, Heckert. 🙂