Some thoughts on the firing of Browns Executive Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown on Thursday:

*None of us wants to see anyone lose their job, but the move was more than justified because Brown was a cancer in the organization, one that was killing the Browns systematically.

*Getting rid of Brown means the Browns got better without having played a game. In essence, they got their first “victory” of the year and are now so much better equipped to go into the offseason and then the 2018 season.

*That Brown continually cut the legs out from underneath head coach Hue Jackson, with whom he was supposed to be in lock-step, is, in itself, a fireable offense.

*One of Brown’s chief tasks – perhaps THE chief task — was to find a franchise quarterback. That he brazenly refused over a two-year period to use a first-round draft pick to do so is, in itself, a fireable offense.

*That he purposely botched a trade – for a quarterback, no less – because he didn’t feel it was the right thing to do, is, in itself, a fireable offense.

*He isn’t going to ever say it publicly, but it’s a good bet that when Brown purposely messed up the trade, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam decided that he was going to fire him. The only question was when. That became now because Haslam is apparently close to hiring Brown’s replacement – former Kansas City Chiefs General manager John Dorsey, perhaps. Whomever it is, though, Haslam wants to move rapidly and beat out other suitors, especially the New York Giants, who also recently their GM and are actively looking for a replacement.

*That Haslam also announced on Thursday that Jackson would return for 2018 is obviously great news for Jackson because it means that the owner believes he has a competent coach on his hands who deserves another year to work on getting the team turned around. But Jackson has to – definitely, positively, absolutely HAS to — win many more games next season. How many? At least six or seven, or perhaps even eight. In 2019, the Browns will have to be serious contenders for the AFC North championship. It’s no more complicated than that, and Brown knows it. I’m rooting like crazy for him for a variety of reasons.

More on this over the next several days leading into Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers at FirstEnergy Stadium.