There was a significant development involving the Browns on Thursday morning.
Yes, it had something to do with the news that the club has given backup quarterback Kevin Hogan permission to seek a trade, but the significance of that is not what you think.
OK, so Hogan already realizes – before any of the offseason work really gets going – that he is not part of the Browns’ plans this year. Good for him. He’s a great guy, so I wish him all the luck in the world. I hope he lands somewhere.
But that part of it is hardly news. Come on, did you actually think – even for a moment – that Hogan would play at all, let alone have an impactful role, in 2018? Of course, you didn’t. After all, a lot of things would have had to happen for Hogan to get on the field in a game that counted in the standings. You and I had about as much of a chance to play as Hogan.
No, the significance of that news is the reaction to it by new Browns General Manager John Dorsey. Despite the fact that Hogan is his guy – he drafted the Stanford product in 2016 when he was GM of the Kansas City Chiefs – Dorsey didn’t stand in Hogan’s way of wanting out of Cleveland. In fact, he likely leveled with Dorsey, was honest with him, and encouraged him to do.
When a GM comes in, he sweeps out the door almost all of what – and who – he has inherited and replaces it and them with his own things and guys. Dorsey is no different in that respect. He has wiped out all of the quarterbacks from the 2017 team, which, in a lot of respects, especially the fact that the Browns were 0-16 and struggled all year to score points and protect the ball, was probably a good idea.
But too many times, GMs are so intent on putting their imprint on the team that. In doing so, they also tend to rid themselves of that which is valuable and who is valuable. It’s like the old saying of “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. They sometimes do it to the extent that it eventually costs them their jobs.
Loyalty is great – mostly, anyway. But it’s all about winning.
But Dorsey wasn’t especially loyal – or loyal at all, really — with Hogan, which means he probably won’t do it – and hasn’t done it thus far in his relatively short time here – in other cases.
As such, if you’re a Browns fan – and if I assume you are if you’re on this website – then you have to be happy, because now there is tangible proof that Dorsey, the guy making the football team decisions, is intent on doing what’s best – whatever it is, however it is, whenever it is and whomever it involves – to make the football team better.
And that’s all that matters.
