The Paul DePodesta Era Ends in Cleveland, But His Influence Still Lingers
When Paul DePodesta officially parted ways with the Cleveland Browns, it marked the end of a nearly decade-long experiment that never quite delivered on its promise. Brought in with the kind of buzz you don’t often see for a front office executive - thanks in part to his portrayal in Moneyball - DePodesta arrived in Cleveland with a reputation for disrupting traditional thinking. The idea was simple: if analytics could revolutionize baseball, why not football?
Jimmy Haslam and the Browns’ ownership group were all-in on that vision. DePodesta was handed the keys to implement a data-driven approach to roster building and football operations, something that had never been done at this scale in the NFL. But football, as it turns out, isn’t baseball - and the translation between sports isn’t as clean as a spreadsheet might suggest.
The Browns' record during DePodesta’s tenure - 59-105-1 - tells a sobering story. Only the Jets and Giants (yes, both New York teams playing in New Jersey) fared worse over that stretch.
Despite the analytical overhaul, Cleveland struggled to find consistency, let alone success. The front office cycled through coaches, quarterbacks, and philosophies, but the wins never came in bunches.
And then there’s the elephant in the room: the Deshaun Watson trade and the fully guaranteed contract that followed. That move, made under DePodesta’s watch, is now widely viewed as one of the most disastrous decisions in NFL history - both from a football standpoint and a public relations one. It was a swing for the fences that missed wildly, and the ripple effects are still being felt.
So when DePodesta returned to Major League Baseball, there wasn’t exactly a groundswell of disappointment in Cleveland. His role had always been somewhat ambiguous, but his fingerprints were on every major decision the team made. And now, with him gone, many fans hoped the Browns could finally turn the page.
But here’s the twist: they haven’t.
During a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, NFL insider Tom Pelissero dropped a nugget that should catch the attention of anyone who thought DePodesta’s departure meant a clean slate.
“Paul DePodesta got there 10 years ago. He built out a massive data and analytics department.
Those people have a strong voice in everything that the Browns do,” Pelissero said. “There is a lot of time that is consumed once you're on the job with those conversations, and so the interview process is kind of a preview of that.”
Translation: while DePodesta may be gone, his infrastructure is very much alive - and still heavily involved in decision-making. That reality has reportedly made the Browns' coaching search more complicated than it needed to be.
Candidates aren’t just interviewing for a head coaching job. They’re also being evaluated by - and expected to collaborate with - a data-driven apparatus that doesn’t have a clear face or name leading it anymore. That kind of dynamic can be tough to navigate, especially for coaches who are used to more traditional football structures.
And that leads to a tough question: if you’re a top-tier coaching candidate with options, why choose Cleveland?
The Browns ultimately hired Todd Monken, a veteran coach with a strong offensive background. But it’s worth noting that Monken was chosen from a group of finalists who, by the end of the process, weren’t exactly being courted by a dozen other teams. Nate Scheelhaase, a younger candidate who seemed to align more closely with Cleveland’s analytical leanings, was passed over in favor of the 59-year-old Monken - a move that suggests the Browns may be trying to pivot back toward a more traditional approach.
Still, the remnants of the DePodesta era remain. The analytics department he built is still in place.
The decision-makers he influenced are still in power. And the culture he helped shape hasn’t been fully reset.
The Browns are moving forward - but they’re doing so with a blueprint that still bears the markings of a strategy that never quite worked. Whether that’s a sign of stubbornness or just unfinished business remains to be seen.
But for a fanbase that’s endured more than its fair share of false starts, the hope is that this time, the Browns finally get it right.
Because if history is any indication, they’re due.