IS IT GOING TO BE PATON? OR BERRY?

By STEVE KING

You had a feeling that somehow, some way, it would happen.

There was no way to predict the scenario, only that something would occur.

And it has, so the Browns are now between a rock and a hard place in their search for a general manager.

New head coach Kevin Stefanski favors George Paton, with whom he has a relationship from their days together with the Minnesota Vikings.

The Browns’ top people, such as owner Jimmy Haslam and Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta, favor Andrew Berry, with whom they have a relationship from their days together in Cleveland.

Paton or Berry?

Berry or Paton?

Which way will it go? Who will ultimately win this stalemate?

Who knows?

But this much we do know: It is – obviously – a huge, huge hire for the Browns, almost as big as – and in some ways, possibly even more so than – that of Stefanski.

The Browns keep talking about their desire – their commitment, really – to align the head coach and GM as well as possible. They act as if this alignment is some kind of epiphany, whereas the rest of the NFL’s teams have been doing it for years, which explains a lot of why the Browns have been so bad and dysfunctional during the expansion era.

But there’s no way to change the past, only to affect the present and future, and at least the Browns have finally figured out that much of it.

Can they, though, figure out how to get to the finish line – the right way – in this hire?

That remains to be seen.

Do they disappoint the head coach, and hope that any inherit differences between him and the GM can be smoothed over enough to allow them to go forward in lock-step?

Or do they disappoint themselves?

As much as they hope they got the right coach, they now must find the right GM to go with him.

But it won’t be easy.

It never is.