Why Browns are keeping Andrew Berry after firing Kevin Stefanski

The Cleveland Browns wasted little time in parting ways with head coach Kevin Stefanski after the team wrapped up a 5-12 regular season that kept the club out of the playoffs for a second consecutive year and fourth time in the last five seasons.

Yet, on a day where many expected Stefanski to be the first domino to fall out of a multitude of changes, the Browns decided to stay put at one key position within the organization. Cleveland announced that Andrew Berry would be staying on as the team’s general manager, where he’ll be in charge of spearheading the club’s efforts of finding a new head coach.

So, why was Berry spared while Stefanski was shown the door?

Co-owner Jimmy Haslam gave his take to reporters on Monday after Stefanski’s firing, explaining “I think Andrew, over the last year, has done a very good job. And I want to go through that ‘cause I think it's important to talk about the moves he made to strengthen our team.”

Haslam praises GM Berry

Haslam went on to mention the Maliek Collins addition through free agency and the draft trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars that netted them three picks, including a first-rounder for this year.

Haslam also recounted Berry’s haul with four “first team all-rookie or second team all-rookie” players, the addition of Andre Szmyt as a long-term solution at placekicker, and the trade for Tyson Campbell.

Interestingly enough, Haslam didn’t mention Berry’s role in giving up six draft picks for Deshaun Watson in 2022, including three first rounders, and the highest totally guaranteed contract in NFL history; nor rookie quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders as part of this year’s draftees.

Haslam also failed to mention the coaches’ role in Collins having his best season ever as a pro, or in Mason Graham’s development as the season progressed. Haslam didn’t bother to bring up the Joe Flacco signing and trading away mid-season, or the deals to acquire Kenny Pickett and Cam Robinson, either. There was no mention either of previous draft picks such as Michael Hall Jr. or Zak Zinter, or Cedric Tillman and Greg Newsome II... all of them falling on Berry’s lap, too.

The Browns making Dustin Hopkins one of the highest paid placekickers in history, on a three-year deal in 2024 that resulted in him getting cut after one season, wasn’t brought up either, even during the placekicking woes part of the speech.

So, again we ask: why did Haslam spare Berry?

Berry, who was hired by the team as the general manager and vice president of football operations in January of 2020, barely two weeks after the team decided on Kevin Stefanski as their head coach. Berry and Stefanski also received contract extensions in June of 2024, right before the tandem managed to produce just eight wins in the last two seasons combined.

Well, it’s worth mentioning that while reports surfaced about Stefanski being against the Watson trade to begin with, Berry was very firm in saying “All of us were on board with it” during a 2024 press conference, meaning Haslam could have decided to stick with the man whom he felt was the most loyal to him.

But in the end, the answer could simply be that Haslam didn’t want to fully blow up the team and embark on yet another total reconstruction. The Browns are an analytics-driven team, and Berry’s continuity assures that they will stay as one, even under a different head coach. Structurally, the front office might be subject to some changes, but the team’s philosophy on how to get things done will stay more or less the same.

Eight wins in the span of two full seasons is certainly not sustainable, and Stefanski committed multiple sins along the way to get to this point, but the Browns had help from the front office in being this bad. Berry stays on for the time being, but it’ll be hard for him to evade the fans’ ire if things don’t get any better fast, now that Stefanski isn’t there to shoulder the blame in Cleveland.