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Reported Moves Would Only Make John Dorsey Look Desperate

The Cleveland Browns have been linked to a number of big and ultimately desperate moves, including potentially firing the head coach and trying to pry Trent Williams away from the Washington Redskins. Should such a move happen, it would only make the one making them look bad.
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There are a number of reports and rumors flying around that Cleveland Browns general manager John Dorsey has tried or at least considered making a drastic move to get the team on track. John Clayton from ESPN Seattle suggested that head coach Freddie Kitchens was almost fired after the loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. This week, reports had the Browns trading for Trent Williams.

Here's the problem. Any of these big moves look really bad for one person; John Dorsey. Whether it's the offensive line or the head coach, if he's unsatisfied enough to make a drastic change, he has no one to blame but himself as he's ultimately responsible for both of them.

And this is why they aren't likely to happen nor should they. The Browns offensive line, particularly the tackle spots were attempting to hold serve this year. They hired a new offensive line coach in James Campen, but any expectation that he was going to make mediocrity into greatness was believing in football alchemy. It just wasn't realistic.

As for Kitchens, imagine if Dorsey, the person who ultimately made the final call on the hire, decided to pull the plug after six games. The shortest head coaching tenure in NFL history, short of carrying the interim tag. It's unfathomable.

Dorsey is always looking for ways to improve the Cleveland Browns, something he hit on in his presser this week and something he always mentions whenever he's talking about the team. But to suggest he's going to make these enormous panic moves is difficult to believe.

Starting out 2-4 is frustrating. Losing some of the games in the manner they have is infuriating. The tackle play is disappointing. But none of these issues are so egregious that they require panic or the guy who engineered the whole thing failed in hiring the head coach and assembling the roster.

Sure, inquire about Trent Williams. See what's out there. It's due diligence. It's the Washington Redskins. No one ever really knows what they are doing. But if fact finding turns into an absurd overpay to get a player that was available months ago before the season as opposed to midway through the season, trying to incorporate them on the fly, is the definition of poor planning of a roster.

Even entertaining the idea that a head coach should be fired six games into his first season ever at the position is a textbook failure of management. It would say just as much about the front office as it would about Kitchens.

It was completely foreseeable that the offensive tackle position could struggle this year. Before the season started, it looked like the Browns were planning to address left tackle in the 2020 NFL Draft. There's no reason that should change, especially six games into the season. They've already made it this far, might as well finish it out.

It also shouldn't be unexpected that the first games for a head coach who's never been a head coach might not go smoothly. And there are issues that need to be addressed, but most of the issues Kitchens is having is are attempting to account for the mediocre tackles he was saddled with by the general manager.

Dorsey is always going to look for good opportunities as he should, but so much of this feels more a result of factions trying to will him into action than it is because he wants to take such action. He's made significant trades in the past, so it feels like some are now expecting a big move as if that's the new normal.

The moves still have to make sense. A big move isn't necessarily a good one because it's big. The Tyrod Taylor trade was a big move and seemingly made sense at the time. It also didn't work. Whether it's Trent Williams or another big name it could fall just as flat as that move did, but with far higher stakes attached, resulting in a significant setback.

Dorsey had a plan coming into this season and should stick to that plan. Everything about this team has been leading up to the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The hope is this team and its coach improve over the course of the year and make the playoffs, so they can be prepared to make a real run for the Super Bowl next year and the year after. Some small tweaks can be made to the plan along the way and there is frustration in the growing pains, but nothing about the first six games require a radical course change.