As the Cleveland Browns and their fans wake to a restful Sunday following a Saturday win versus the Baltimore Ravens, national NFL news of interest is released. While the majority of NFL fans were more interested in injury updates on their favorite players and fantasy football stars, another interesting nugget was released.
As teams, including the Browns, wind down their seasons with either no hope or minuscule hope to make the NFL playoffs, “hot seat” conversations ramp up. Three teams have already made major moves with the Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts firing their head coaches and the Tennessee Titans letting go of their general manager.
Cleveland has long been the hotbed of transitions at the highest levels of the organization. Since 2010, the Browns have had seven different head coaches, including interims, with two of them only lasting for a season. In that same timeframe, six different people led the front office.
According to a report, the NFL sent out a financial warning about the overall costs of the consistent hiring and firing process. In the past five years, owners have paid out $800 million to pay fired coaches and executives. The NFL was very direct in their approach:
NFL officials went so far as to compose individual spread sheets specific to each team, the employees they fired and the costs incurred by the team, according to sources. The league wanted each team to see the exact costs of instability, and the employees that they paid for services no longer rendered.
The report used the New York Giants as a prime example as they are currently paying three different head coaches this year.
As some Cleveland fans wonder about moving on from the trio of Paul DePodesta, Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski, it will be interesting how owner Jimmy Haslam might hear those financial figures. It is unlikely that massive changes were in the works before this information was presented but the big numbers may have been shocking for Haslam and the ownership group to see.
