More Browns Implosion: Banner and Lombardi Stepping Down

[BradyFTW!]

What a cluster****. The crazy thing is, Lombardi was actually doing a pretty good job for them IMO. With a full year of competence at QB (which could be achieved by something as simple as Brian Hoyer being healthy), there's a very good chance that they would be a playoff team. Meanwhile, half a year later, getting a first for Trent Richardson looks like an absolute steal. Repairing the damage of the Holmgren regime was never going to happen overnight, and apparently this is the thanks that Lombardi and Chud get for doing all of the dirty work and creating a reasonably bright outlook for a garbage organization.

In short, Jimmy Haslam is a ******* idiot. They actually had the foundations of a good organization being built... and then they fired both the coach and the GM for no good reason whatsoever. It would be pretty funny if I didn't feel so badly for Browns fans.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Sure, and we should also offer this year and next year's 2nd round picks to Jacksonville for Justin Blackman.

I would spend every weekend cringing, just waiting to wake up on Sunday to news that they were both suspended for the year.

 

[mayoclinic]

I would spend every weekend cringing, just waiting to wake up on Sunday to news that they were both suspended for the year.

Well, on the bright side, they could make up their own support group.

 

[Danger Zone]

When I read about such dysfunctional, meddling owners all I can say is..

:hail: :hail: :hail: ROBERT KRAFT..

Seriously, thank you.

 

[shmessy]

What a cluster****. The crazy thing is, Lombardi was actually doing a pretty good job for them IMO. With a full year of competence at QB (which could be achieved by something as simple as Brian Hoyer being healthy), there's a very good chance that they would be a playoff team. Meanwhile, half a year later, getting a first for Trent Richardson looks like an absolute steal. Repairing the damage of the Holmgren regime was never going to happen overnight, and apparently this is the thanks that Lombardi and Chud get for doing all of the dirty work and creating a reasonably bright outlook for a garbage organization.

In short, Jimmy Haslam is a ******* idiot. They actually had the foundations of a good organization being built... and then they fired both the coach and the GM for no good reason whatsoever. It would be pretty funny if I didn't feel so badly for Browns fans.

Amen.

Lombardi was starting a great salvage job of that mess last year - - the Richardson trade to Indianapolis was an absolute heist.

 

[patsfan-1982]

am not a fan of Lombardi so I don't have that big of a problem with this move but I can understand why no one would want to be the HC of the browns

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

What a cluster****. The crazy thing is, Lombardi was actually doing a pretty good job for them IMO. With a full year of competence at QB (which could be achieved by something as simple as Brian Hoyer being healthy), there's a very good chance that they would be a playoff team. Meanwhile, half a year later, getting a first for Trent Richardson looks like an absolute steal. Repairing the damage of the Holmgren regime was never going to happen overnight, and apparently this is the thanks that Lombardi and Chud get for doing all of the dirty work and creating a reasonably bright outlook for a garbage organization.

In short, Jimmy Haslam is a ******* idiot. They actually had the foundations of a good organization being built... and then they fired both the coach and the GM for no good reason whatsoever. It would be pretty funny if I didn't feel so badly for Browns fans.

I would kill to have listened to the advice BB gave to Josh regarding that HC "opportunity". I'm sure Josh is happy today that he avoided that career killing disaster of a franchise.

 

[Fencer]

Cavaliers are a mess too.

Sucks to be Cleveland.

 

[Ivan]

I think the speculation that this kills any chance of Mallett to Cleveland is right on the money. Houston is the best shot at this point but i do think there is a good chance O'Brien would prefer Mallett over a rookie, especially when it means he can use his 1st overall as trade bait or to take a great prospect other than QB.

 

[p8ryts]

Lets offer them This year and next years First for Josh Gordon. Seriously Gordon is closest thing to Megatron out there. We would set at WR for quite some time.

Unless he gets suspended for a year or worse

 

[patsfan-1982]

I think the speculation that this kills any chance of Mallett to Cleveland is right on the money. Houston is the best shot at this point but i do think there is a good chance O'Brien would prefer Mallett over a rookie, especially when it means he can use his 1st overall as trade bait or to take a great prospect other than QB.

Matt Cassel is now a FA they can sign him Draft Jadeveon Clowney first overall and Draft a QB in the 2th round,

they would have a vet QB who has put up 2 pro bowl seasons in the system starting and maybe the 3rd best QB in this Draft on the bench. there is no reason at all for them to Trade for Mallett

 

[varjao]

Browns fans are loving it

 

[Ring 6]

Lombardi didn't draft Weeden or Richardson.

I didn't say he did.

Lombardi did bring in a solid #2 at QB who managed to disrupt the Browns tankapoolza for a few games before injury. And gaining Indy's #1 for their underachieving Bama RB was a coup IMHO.

You don't hire a GM based on his ability to grab a backup QB off the waiver wire who wins a few games.

I have no idea about their past draft so any insight there would be appreciated......The reality, despite a couple of premium pieces, Cleveland is a rebuild which requires patience. Firing the upper management screams the owner has no patience.

If you judge that you made a bad hire, patience is not a virtue.
Rebuilding with the wrong people is worse than starting over.
I would trust that they were not fired on a whim, but that Haslam's evaluation of them was that they were not the right people to get the job done.
There is a thousand times more basis to evaluate someone a year into their job than you had when you hired them.

So I expect an all-in approach at the opening of the draft with Cleveland pushing all the chips in to jump up in the draft. Johnny Football will bring alot of interest to Cleveland....at least until his slight build snaps in two!!! If Lombardi really has the same football philosophy as BB, no way Lombardi would have paid up for an under sized QB

I think it is ludicrous to think that disagreement in February over how to potentially use the 4th pick in the draft would result in firing your GM.

 

[Ring 6]

I think the speculation that this kills any chance of Mallett to Cleveland is right on the money. Houston is the best shot at this point but i do think there is a good chance O'Brien would prefer Mallett over a rookie, especially when it means he can use his 1st overall as trade bait or to take a great prospect other than QB.

That's good because it was never going to happen anyway.

 

[shmessy]

If you judge that you made a bad hire, patience is not a virtue.

Depends on the judge. You DO understand we're talking Jimmy Haslam, right?

Not a great track record on choosing and judging his executves:

New guilty plea in FBI probe of Jimmy Haslam's Knoxville company - Story

"KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Guilty pleas are mounting in the federal criminal probe into CEO Jimmy Haslam's Knoxville company as three more former employees admit to fraud related charges......

......Today's guilty plea now makes ten former Pilot employees who have pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges since the FBI raid at the company's headquarters last April...."

__

So Haslam has had 5 head coaches in 6 years now. He's also had 5 GM's in 6 years.

Perhaps this fellow's "Execuitve Judging Skills" are not top-notch?

.

 

[Ring 6]

Depends on the judge. You DO understand we're talking Jimmy Haslam, right?

Not a great track record on choosing and judging his executves:

New guilty plea in FBI probe of Jimmy Haslam's Knoxville company - Story

"KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Guilty pleas are mounting in the federal criminal probe into CEO Jimmy Haslam's Knoxville company as three more former employees admit to fraud related charges......

......Today's guilty plea now makes ten former Pilot employees who have pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges since the FBI raid at the company's headquarters last April...."

__

Perhaps this fellow's "Execuitve Judging Skills" are not top-notch.


.

Are you arguing that hiring Lombardi and Banner was a better move than firing them?

 

[ctpatsfan77]

From a Patriots perspective, I think the key takeaway is that Josh McDaniels should be exhaling a HUGE sigh of relief right now.

 

[shmessy]

Are you arguing that hiring Lombardi and Banner was a better move than firing them?

It was less than a year. They were 3-2 before Hoyer got hurt. Plus, ask anyone in Indianapolis whether Lombardi picked their pockets clean on the Trent Richardson trade.

I'm arguing that the owner is a lousy judge of executives in the first place - - given what is happening at Pilot and the fact that he has had 5 HCs and 5 GM's in 6 years as a NFL owner.

It's rather obvious.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Are you arguing that hiring Lombardi and Banner was a better move than firing them?

Based on what they did in their one season in Cleveland, I'd say so. Lombardi did a very good of purging the roster of garbage, getting returns where he could, and setting the team up with assets that could translate to future success.

Looked to me like Lombardi and Chud both deserved another year to build on the fact that they turned the corner in 2013. Rebuilding from where that team was in 2012 is not a one-year job. In general, rebuilding is almost never a one-year job, unless something enormous like upgrading from Curtis Painter to Andrew Luck happens. Meanwhile, the Browns are still stuck with Brandon Weeden from the last regime.

Lombardi and Chud were in the process of installing the team that they wanted to build, and if you're not going to let them do that, then why hire them in the first place? If Bob Kraft was this stupid, he would have fired Belichick after 2000, since he clearly wasn't getting it done after that 5-11 season.

The reality is that it took one year to get rid of a bunch of the guys that they didn't want; it logically follows that the next step is to take the guys that they actually want. It's impossible to evaluate the job that they did until you have that second piece of the puzzle.

 

[JDot]

This is pretty crazy. Don't know how true it is, but wow.

Firing Mike Lombardi and Joe Banner: What really happened? | Dawg Pound Nation