A-Plus Start Andrew Berry

A-Plus start Andrew BerryAndrew Berry, Vice President of Player Personnel, talks to the media after the third day of the 2017 NFL Draft. Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com

Posted By: County Sports Network March 17, 2020

A-PLUS START ANDREW BERRY

New 2020 Cleveland Browns Jerseys

By STEVE KING

I, you and me – and everybody else – wondered out loud whether a brand-new, first-time, 32-year-old general manager could avoid messing this thing up.

And our concern was legitimate.

But the Browns’ Andrew Berry calmed everybody’s fears. He proved his dissenters and doubters wrong.

He did one heckuva bang-up job as NFL free agency began on Monday with players agreeing to terms with teams. Contracts can’t be signed – and made official – until Wednesday when free agency officially begins, but that’s just a formality.

Berry and the Browns were able to lure three top-line players, filling a massive hole each time, in former Atlanta Falcons tight end Austin Hooper, right tackle Jack Conklin (Tennessee Titans) and back-up quarterback Case Keenum (Washington Redskins).

The Browns went into free agency desperately needing a playmaking, sure-handed tight end who could provide all kinds of match-up problems in the secondary. Enter Hooper, a two-time Pro Bowler.

Check.

The Browns went into free agency desperately needing a powerful run-blocking right tackle to open holes for Nick Chubb. Enter Conklin, possibly the best in the business.

Check.

And the Browns went into free agency desperately needing a veteran, proven, steady back-up quarterback who could help mentor young starter Baker Mayfield, and who will know, inside and out, the new offense that’s being implemented. Enter Keenum, who was new Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski’s savior in Minnesota when he worked with the then quarterbacks coach.

Check.

 Yes, check, check, check.

This is simple, really, in that when a team has a need, it needs to fill it with the top man available for the job. And Berry did just that, and then some.

It was, to be honest, the best possible outcome for the Browns. Berry lived up to his billing as a really smart guy with a pragmatic sense and the ability to be aggressive when that’s the best course of action.

Free agency will, of course, continue, and then the NFL Draft will come down the road.

But the Browns are off to a great, great start, and, if they want to get to where they eventually want to go, then they need it to keep it up. Don’t stop now with your A-Plus start Andrew Berry.

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