The Cleveland Browns have tried just about everything to win and it hasn't worked out so now they're just going full Moneyball.
The woebegone franchise announced Tuesday that it has hired Paul DePodesta of the New York Mets away from baseball to be the team's new chief strategy office. Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported the news, writing that DePodesta's job is "answerable only to" owner Jimmy Haslam and president Sashi Brown
Worth noting: Brown is a big analytics guy and DePodesta is kind of the analytics guy. Remember Jonah Hill in Moneyball? That's DePodesta.
Also worth noting: DePodesta did get his start in football so there's that.
Browns analytics push even more overt with hiring of Paul DePodesta from NY Mets. He got his start in football with the CFL's Baltimore team
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 5, 2016
The bottom line is it looks really weird for the Browns to turn over control of the FOOTBALL TEAM team to a BASEBALL GUY.
But more than anything the Browns need intelligence in the front office. If DePodesta can use analytics (or just common sense) to get the Browns on the same plane -- or, gasp, even gain an advantage! -- as other teams, it might result in the Browns being something other than the same old sad franchise we've seen for the last decade plus.
It's a major gamble but what do the Browns have to lose?