CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – It appears Andrew Berry is in line to return to Cleveland, if he chooses, to take over the Browns’ personnel department.
Berry is now the front runner for the general managers job after Vikings assistant GM George Paton removed himself from consideration Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com first reported Friday afternoon.
Paton, who has been with the Vikings for 13 years, interviewed for a second time on Wednesday.
Paton would've paired perfectly with new head coach Kevin Stefanski, who joined the search committee after he was hired Jan. 13.
Berry interviewed Jan. 17 along with Patriots director of college scouting Monti Ossenfort.
League sources have told 92.3 The Fan that Paton was warned about taking the job from those within the league because of the reputation of the Haslams and volatility in Cleveland.
Cabot also reported that Paton’s concerns about structure and division of responsibilities were among the primary reasons he withdrew from consideration.
Earlier this week at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards Stefanski seemed to pump the brakes a bit on the speed of the search.
“I don’t think we have a timeline, but I think we’re huddling up and having a lot of good discussions and see where it goes,” Stefanski said.
“I think we’ve brought in some real good candidates. I don’t want to single anybody out. I just know that Dee and Jimmy [Haslam] have done their due diligence to make sure we brig in some qualified people and again, get them in our building, talk to them and understand that shared vision we all have. I think it’s been a good process.”
Paton, who interviewed because of his respect for Stefanski, has turned down other GM opportunities in the past and has been very selective about interviews in recent years.
Berry was a vice president of player personnel from 2016-18 under Sashi Brown and then John Dorsey before joining Philadelphia’s front office last year. He was believed to be the main choice of chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta and owner Jimmy Haslam.
The Haslams along with executive vice president JW Johnson are in search of their fifth general manager since 2013 after mutually parting ways with John Dorsey on Dec. 31.
Haslam has made organizational alignment a priority with this latest round of changes after previous internal clashes with DePodesta under Dorsey and former head coach Hue Jackson.
