Browns fire Moneyball GM Sashi Brown but will keep head coach Hue Jackson
The Browns have won just one game since Brown took over personnel decisions.
The Browns have won exactly one game over the past two seasons. Now they’re parting ways with executive VP Sashi Brown, the team announced Thursday.
Hue Jackson was asked after the Browns’ Week 11 loss to the Jaguars if Brown’s plan for the team was working. He didn’t exactly give Brown a vote of confidence.
"The plan that's in place, let me say this," Jackson said, via Cleveland.com’s Dan Labbe. "My job is not to say it is or isn't (working). My job is to coach the football team, that's what I was hired here to do."
Jackson will continue to do exactly that. The Browns confirmed that Jackson will remain as the head coach through the 2018 season.
Why did the Browns fire Brown? To put it in the simplest terms possible: Brown had plenty of draft picks to work with this offseason, and the Browns still can’t seem to win a single game. Much of that can be blamed on the instability at the quarterback position.
One of his first big moves after taking over in Cleveland was signing Robert Griffin III. Griffin had a promising training camp and preseason, but landed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury he suffered in Week 1. A revolving door of Josh McCown, Cody Kessler, and Kevin Hogan filled in, with no success. Griffin was able to return in Week 14 and started the rest of the season, including Week 16, when the Browns got their only win.
This offseason, Brown opted to address the quarterback position by drafting DeShone Kizer in the second round of the draft. Kizer won the starting role, but has been benched a few times for costly turnovers.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but the Browns could have had Deshaun Watson. Brown traded the 12th overall pick to the Houston Texans, who used it to draft Watson. Watson looked like a lock for offensive rookie of the year honors before he landed on injured reserve with a torn ACL.
The Browns have needed a franchise quarterback since the team returned to Cleveland in 1999. Brown failed to find one.
We’ll have more on this story as it develops.