New Browns GM Berry: I 'still have a lot of belief' in Mayfield
The Cleveland Browns introduced new general manager Andrew Berry on Wednesday, and it didn't take long for the young executive to support quarterback Baker Mayfield.
"I was a part of drafting Baker in 2018 and I can tell you there was a ton of organizational consensus with selecting him with the first overall pick," Berry told reporters. "(I) still have a lot of belief in Baker as a quarterback, his talent, and what we think he can become in the NFL. (I'm) looking forward to seeing what (head coach) Kevin (Stefanski) and (offensive coordinator) Alex (Van Pelt) and his staff do with Baker this spring ... We're really excited about his future."
Berry also said he recently met with both star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and running back Kareem Hunt. Beckham didn't appear to click with former head coach Freddie Kitchens and Cleveland's front office, while police found marijuana in Hunt's car during a traffic stop in January.
"With Kareem, we communicated our expectations for him moving forward," Berry said, according to Scott Petrak of The Chronicle-Telegram. "As for Odell, we're certainly happy to have him."
"Everybody is going to have to fit into our culture of being smart, tough, and accountable," he added, according to Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal.
Berry insisted he's determined to turn around a franchise that hasn't made the playoffs since 2002 and hasn't finished with a winning record in 13 years. He said the Browns "will be a scouting-centered front office" but will incorporate analytics, according to Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot.
"We're going to be aggressive (on the free-agent market)," Berry said. "If there's anything that I want to be defined by, it's by aggression. We want to aggressively acquire talent. Because that's the name of the game from an NFL's front-office perspective, and we're going to explore every avenue that enables us to do that."
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