June 19, 2013

NFL News: Cleveland Browns Hire Michael Lombardi as VP – Player Personnel

January 18, 2013 by 67 Comments

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter via Twitter, the Cleveland Browns have hired NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi as VP of Player Personnel. Initially Schefter reported that Lombardi was hired as GM of the Browns, but shortly updated his report to say Lombardi’s title will be VP – Player Personnel.

The Cleveland Browns have since confirmed the hire and have announced an 11:30 am press conference where Jimmy Haslam and Joe Banner will officially announce Lombardi’s addition to the front office.

This will be Lombardi’s 2nd stint with the Browns, as he previously worked as a scout from 1987 to 1989, before taking over as Pro Personnel Director until 1993. His most recent tenure was with the Oakland Raiders where he spent 8 years in the personnel department from 1999 to 2007. He has since been working as an analyst for NFL Network.

[Related: NFL Rumors: Arizona's Ray Horton Potentially Landing In Cleveland]

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Cleveland Cavaliers Hire Zydrunas Ilgauskas

January 18, 2012 by 24 Comments

Big Z, Rookie Challenge MVP

On Wednesday, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that they are welcoming the man who has played the most games in a Cavalier uniform, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, back to Cleveland.

That’s right, the Cavaliers have hired Ilgauskas to rejoin the family as a special assistant to GM Christ Grant. From the press release on the Cavaliers’ website:

The Cleveland Cavaliers today announced that Zydrunas Ilgauskas is joining the team’s front office as Special Assistant to the General Manager. The announcement was made today by Cavs General Manager Chris Grant. In his role as Special Assistant to the General Manager, Ilgauskas will be involved with front office responsibilities, including evaluation of amateur and professional prospects.

“We are very pleased to have Z begin the next phase of his basketball career with the Cavaliers and I am looking forward to working closely with him. Z has always had a great desire to learn and succeed and he already has a deep understanding and appreciation of the game and the NBA. We are extremely happy to welcome him back as part of our franchise,” said Grant. [Read more...]

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NFL Rumor: Tom Heckert in Cleveland for GM Interview

January 5, 2010 by 26 Comments

EaglesHeckert3A little more than a week ago, we discussed the possibility of current Philadelphia Eagles general manager Tommy Heckert being a possibility for the vacant position in Cleveland.  At that point, it was under the assumption that the Browns would have to wait for Heckert’s season with Philadelphia to be over before he could officially visit Berea. 

Fortunately for Cleveland, this no longer appears to be the case as NFL.com’s Jason LaCanfora reports that the Eagles have given Heckert permission to talk to Mike Holmgren.  ESPN’s Adam Schefter took things a bit further by mentioning that Heckert will actually be in Cleveland today – a report that was later confirmed by Jay Glazer of Fox Sports.

[Read more...]

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While We’re Waiting… The Need for a GM, Cliff and the Phillies, and Chinese Investment

December 18, 2009 by 19 Comments

While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.

savageWhy we need a GM: “Say what you will about the departed Phil Savage, he brought in much more talent than what Mangini has. Sure, he missed on some, but the Browns had no Pro Bowl players when Savage arrived and they had multiple selections in 2007 and 2008.  I think there’s something to be said for having a true GM bringing in the talent and overseeing the operation. Mangini gets a lot of credit for having two winning seasons in his three years with the Jets, but GM Mike Tannenbaum had quite a bit to do with the player procurement there.  I think it goes back to the decisions made last season. When Savage was fired, the move to get a ‘czar’ or GM should have been made first before hiring a coach. However, since it was done the other way, the Browns and Randy Lerner are faced with the dilemma they have now.” [Fred Greetham/The OBR]

[Read more...]

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On the Bernie Kosar Browns Rumors

December 10, 2009 by 21 Comments

sportsillust_bernie-kosarLast night, we were directed to a rumor from PFT that the Browns would be hiring their “football czar” sooner than later.  This is something that is intriguing not only because we discussed this earlier yesterday, but because this team desperately needs some leadership in place.  However, the one comment that stuck out the most (and likely done with intent) was the fact that former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar was the only name mentioned in the entire piece.

PFT’s source claims that Lerner has been shot down by several would-be leaders and that Kosar may be getting a shot at the job.  Rick waxed poetic shortly following the mention of Lerner’s quest for credibility, and that frame of opinion hasn’t changed much.  Browns fans love Bernie; he is a personification of what we had way back when.  But is he the “mind” that this team needs? 

[Read more...]

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Former Browns GM Savage Not Loving The Browns Changes

October 28, 2009 by 21 Comments

phil-savage

Thanks to The OBR’s Twitter we have this from Phil Savage-

“You don’t take a lot of solace in watching a place you leave go downhill further,” he said. “But they took what we did have going there and they just dismantled that even further. We left two quarterbacks behind that both seem ruined right now. They traded a lot of players out of there. I feel for the guys we brought in because they’re good players and good people and they’re stuck in a situation and can’t get out for at least the time being.”

I would disagree about one thing in his statement. He implies that the current management ruined both quarterbacks. I maintain that Anderson was ruined long before Savage was fired. He is what he is. As for Quinn, he may be ruined in Cleveland, but there is still hope for his career. We certainly don’t have a large enough sample size to accurately call Quinn ‘ruined’. [Read more...]

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Scratch Pioli Off The List

January 14, 2009 by 20 Comments

Chiefs GM Scott PioliFrom the moment the Browns hired Eric Mangini to be the new head coach without first hiring a GM, we knew it virtually meant that still getting Scott Pioli to come to Cleveland was a long shot at best. But still, none the less, some of us held out hope that Pioli would swallow his pride and still come to Cleveland and be the savior of the franchise.

Well, that dream is over. Scott Pioli has been hired as the next GM of the Kansas City Chiefs. Needless to say, Chiefs fans are rejoicing and reveling in the praise others are heaping on this move. Meanwhile, Browns fans continue to sit in stunned silence as we try to comprehend what exactly is going on in Berea with our beloved Browns.

Remember, Pioli was initially considered to be the hands-on favorite to land the Browns job. In fact, some thought the hiring process would be mere formality and that within a week of firing Phil Savage, the Browns would have Pioli in place to guide the future of the Browns organization. So how did we get where we are today?   [Read more...]

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Browns FO/Coaching: Who Ya Got?

January 2, 2009 by 24 Comments

Over the holidays, it has sometimes felt like my wife and I have been in the car more than we’ve been home. As an unintended consequence of that, my writing for WFNY has effectively fallen off the face of the earth over the last 10-14 days.

Coincidentally, the one major Cleveland sports story in that time period has been the house-cleaning in Berea and the prospects of a new regime both in the front office and on the sidelines. I am bummed that I have not weighed in more thoroughly here, but that stops now!

I wanted to make this a quasi-open thread to gauge where our readership is at relative to the names out there for both positions… both the rumors, and perhaps the ones we don’t hear about. More than just the rumors, though:

As a fan, WHO DO YOU WANT? [Read more...]

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Browns Extend MVP…

May 2, 2008 by 3 Comments

savage150.jpgThe Cleveland Browns inked a contract extension with perhaps the man most valuable to the team’s turnaround. General Manager Phil Savage.

The extension will keep Savage in Cleveland until 2012. This extension has been talked about since Romeo Crennel signed his deal shortly after the Super Bowl. Cleveland Browns.com’s Zac Jackson has the details.

Savage began his NFL career with the Browns in 1991 and worked nine years for the Baltimore Ravens before returning to Cleveland as the general manager in January 2005. His transformation of the roster resulted in the Browns winning 10 games last fall and placing six players in the Pro Bowl; four of those six have been acquired under Savage’s watch.

Savage seen a little bit of everything in 40 months on the job. He even admitted Friday that he thought he may have seen it all tumbling down during the 2007 season-opening loss to the Steelers before the Browns surprised just about everyone, coming together under a new quarterback in Derek Anderson and coming a tiebreaker short of making the playoffs. [Read more...]

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