In general, people feel really comfortable when they can blame or explain things easily. Complicated explanation and an inability to place blame simply on one person, thing, or decision can often lead to frustration and sometimes lead to random conspiracy theories.
The Cleveland Browns trade for QB Deshaun Watson is both a simple and accurate explanation for the team’s struggles over the last few years. A veteran-laden roster did not have a top-flight quarterback to take them over the top (but was
good enough when Joe Flacco caught lightning in a bottle), and the loss of draft picks and salary cap room left the team unable to really build with high-end young players to start to offset the aging veterans.
The complication comes with getting to assign blame to just one person as to who ultimately decided to do the deal that could lead to a regime change in Cleveland this offseason.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam admitted defeat on the Watson trade this offseason and tried to say the responsibility lay with ownership, but noted it “was an entire organization decision.” GM Andrew Berry and HC Kevin Stefanski have said similar things about it being a collaborative effort that they all signed off on.
People hoping that the departure of Paul DePodesta might finally get someone to actually point a finger at the one person who pushed for the deal or wanted the deal to happen the most are going to be disappointed once again. Instead, the new Colorado Rockies boss once again talked about an organizational decision:
“Here’s what I would say, and I truly believe this. I believe that most of the decisions, especially the big ones like that, are organizational decisions, right? I’m not a believer in the ‘King Scout’ situation where there is one guy who makes every call. … The jobs are too complex, the decisions are too hard. They impact too many different things. So I always think these sort of collective decisions, it can be hard to get unanimous (opinions) on those types of things. Everyone who was a part of that? We all own that. We just do, that’s part of the deal.”
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk isn’t buying it:
That’s fine, but DePodesta’s title was “chief strategy officer.” If anyone was responsible with the strategy for trading away three first-round picks (and more) while also paying Watson a five-year, $230 million fully-guaranteed contract despite a looming suspension arising from more than 20 civil lawsuits alleging inappropriate conduct during massage sessions, it was DePodesta.
“If anyone was responsible with the strategy” comment makes sense, but we all know that other decision makers could easily override DePodesta, especially if it was the owner or got the owner on their side.
George Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal was bothered by another statement from DePodesta, when he described his decision to leave baseball for the Browns as being based on wanting a challenge:
Sounds like the Browns and their fans were an experiment for one man’s ego when taken from one perspective. No mention of passion. No mention of love of the game.
In the end, barring some extreme falling out, it seems like Cleveland fans will never really get the full story or an individual to blame. Instead, we’ve heard from owners, the chief strategy officer, the general manager and the head coach that they all decided, so blame cannot fall just on one person.
Then they all get it, own it, and, except for Haslam, will likely be moving on from the Browns in the near future (barring a couple of miracles).
Do you think we will ever get direct quotes or credible reporting on if one specific person is most to blame for the Deshaun Watson trade? How do you feel about what Florio and Thomas had to say regarding DePodesta interview?
