Executive Vice President, Football Operations & General Manager, Andrew Berry (11.6.24)

Opening Statement:

“Okay, enter the bye week at 2-7, and it’s obviously a disappointment and we haven’t played well enough. We haven’t done the things that are needed to achieve consistent results and position wins throughout the season. It’s disappointing for us internally, disappointing for our fans and really all of us share in the record. It’s not just our players and coaches. It’s myself, it’s our personnel staff, it’s our research group. And our focus really this week is on doing the things that are within our control to play quality football through the last eight weeks of the regular season because we have not done that to date. Before I open up for questions, I know that there will be a lot regarding the ’25 roster and decisions that are approaching. I always think that type of discussion reflection is more appropriate for after the season. And really our focus is on the next eight games and playing quality football moving forward. So, with that, I’ll open it up for questions.”

 

All due respect, this was a big year for Deshaun (Watson). Obviously, the injury has kind of derailed that. But what are your plans? I mean, obviously he’s going through the rehab or what have you, but what are your plans for him as far as next season? 

“Yeah, Tom (Withers), really our focus with Deshaun I would say for any player with a season-ending injury and a major injury is first and foremost with the recovery and to make sure that he gets healthy from the Achilles injury. Everything else we’ll deal with at a later moment.”

 

How do you assess how he played though, before he got hurt? 

“Yeah, I would say more broadly, Tom (Withers), we haven’t played well as a team, and we haven’t played well as a unit on offense. And I think oftentimes when you don’t play well on offense, obviously your starting quarterback and your play caller will get the most criticism. But the reality of it is, on offense, it comes down to organization and synchronization and there’s just a lot of shared ownership across the different position groups in terms of why we didn’t perform.”

 

Do you still think the trade for Deshaun Watson was a good one?

“Yeah, Jeff (Schudel), I’m really not in reflection mode. I think that’s probably — I remember I got asked this about (Josh) Dobbs last year, it’s not really my focus at this point in the year. Our focus is really on finishing out the 2024 season, having the team play at a higher level, and then kind of we’ll get to those maybe longer term or big picture reflections at a later point in time.”

 

Kind of off Tom’s (Withers) question, it’s been stop, start, stop, start with Deshaun over the entirety of his time here. How difficult does that make a true and accurate evaluation of the player and the projections of what he can do going forward?

“Yeah, Chris (Easterling), I mean, it’s certainly less than ideal. Availability is a big part of it for any player. But again, it’s also the NFL. You’re at times not going to have all your starters in every phase, and our jobs is still to produce despite that. And at least through the first nine games of the season, we have not done that.”

 

Given the record this year, given the obvious salary cap situation, it’s pretty obvious you were over the cap going in, and given the state of the quarterback situation, what hope do the fans have that they’ll see a playoff season in the near future?

“Yeah, Tony (Grossi), I think number one, our focus is on the short term and the long term. I’d say short term, playing good football here down the stretch and making sure that we make the adjustments over the bye week that will enable us to do that. And in terms of longer-term planning, we never look at it just in terms of in a vacuum, in a single year focus. We’ll have the resources and we’ll be able to make the adjustments that allow us to continue to build the team and the roster. But again, that’ll be more of an offseason focus than something that we’re talking about at the bye.”

 

Was the decision to trade for Deshaun Watson yours, or was it your idea or was this a mandate from above?

“Yeah, I’d say this, Mary Kay (Cabot), like we’ve always said, all of us were on board. Everyone’s on board and obviously with a big commitment in that regard, that’s always going to be the case.”

 

What would you say to fans that watch backup quarterbacks come out and throw for 300 yards in games. They’re watching Baker Mayfield have success in Tampa Bay and Deshaun struggles to throw for 200 yards in games. What do you say to fans that watch that and can’t really understand what’s going on?

“Yeah, I think that — look, Daryl (Ruiter), when you’re 2-7 entering the bye, you understand the fans frustration. And we have not played consistently on offense and it’s shared ownership. It really is shared ownership. We’re capable of playing better, we should play better. And like I said, we’re going to make the adjustments necessary to improve our performance throughout the next eight games and then obviously make the adjustments to make sure we’re not feeling this way the first nine games of the year moving forward.”

 

When you talk about the consistency on offense, I mean you guys made so many changes in the offseason and now Ken’s (Dorsey) calling plays. I guess, why do you think there are still those inconsistency issues or new issues compared to last year when you guys made so many changes with hopes of everything improving?

“Yeah, Ashley (Bastock), I don’t think — number one, if it was one thing, I kind of mentioned, that makes it a bit of an easy fix. I think there are a variety of factors. There’s probably always a little bit of transition cost to when you do make changes. We have had guys in and out of the lineup. And then quite honestly, just at times we haven’t played disciplined football. We’ve shot ourselves in the foot. But again, that’s not new to the NFL, it’s not new to our organization. No excuses in that regard. We just have to play better.”

 

How do you assess the offensive tackle position for now and how those guys have played? 

“Yeah, I think probably the biggest thing, Zac (Jackson), it’s nice to have all three available probably for the first time this season in the past couple weeks. I think that we’ve seen an improvement just in general in that regard, which is having those guys healthy and available and it’s something that we will expect to see continued progression as we go into the second half of the season.”

 

Do you think it’s important for you and the organization to see DTR (Dorian Thompson-Robinson) play over an extended period of time?

“Yeah, Tony (Grossi), that’ll always lie with Kevin (Stefanski) and the offensive staff in terms of who to play. In general, I would say we’re going to play the guys that we think give us the best chance to perform well on Sundays and beat the upcoming opponent.”

 

With the quarterback uncertainty at 2-7, all those things Tony (Grossi) mentioned before, do you feel like a tear down is going to be necessary? 

“Yeah, Scott (Petrak), so I’d say two things: in terms of the long-term planning, again, that’s probably a better post-season discussion. I think one of the beauties of the NFL is it’s not like baseball, it’s not like basketball where at times you may need these half-decade long pivots or rebuilds. I think you see it every year with teams, just the margins are so thin. And then honestly with just the way that our sport works with player procurement, it’s not like we’re drafting a 16-year-old kid who’s got to play eight years in the minors before he comes and produces or something along those lines. So, I think generally you don’t necessarily have to see those pivots in our sport.”

 

Do you think the roster is as good as you thought it was entering the season? 

“Yeah, again, Scott (Petrak), I think that’s probably more of a reflection for after the season. I mean look, at 2-7, we haven’t played well. And in the NFL with the margins being so thin, it’s not always just about talent. It’s also about team building and how we marry everything on Sundays. But again, those are all things that we’re looking into during the bye week and obviously we’ll do more analysis after the season.”

 

Are you confident that you and Kevin, I know you guys are in the first year of your extensions, are you confident that you guys will be given the opportunity to see this thing through going forward?

“Yeah, Mary Kay (Cabot), I’ll be honest, neither of us really think of it that way. I’d say number one, to myself, I always view myself as a steward of the organization in this role and really my focus is on doing the things that are in my control, short-term and long-term, to make sure it’s in the best interest of the franchise. I would say, to Kevin specifically, I think there are 13 coaches in the history of the sport to win a Coach of the Year award multiple times, 10 of them went to a Super Bowl or an NFL Championship, six of them won one and seven are in the Hall of Fame and he’s the second fastest to do it. Kevin’s an outstanding coach and he’s absolutely part of the solution with everything.”

 

Can you explain, and this is not a second guess, I want it to be educated. Why did you push that Deshaun money back to next year when you were under the cap? Can you explain that?

“It’s a great question, Jeff (Schudel). I think you know me well enough that I don’t talk about those issues in this setting. I do understand that it’s an authentic question, and it’s a good one. I just, you know I have a long-standing policy where I don’t talk about contractual matters in this setting.”

 

What was the driving force behind the offseason offensive coaching changes, and why were they necessary and what can you say about the results considering this offense now ranks at the bottom in just about every meaningful metric?

“I think probably, quite candidly, it’s probably a better question for Kevin as it pertains to his staff. I can tell you this, every decision that we make organizationally is with the aim of improvement and doing everything possible that we can to sustain success and build a winner. So, I’d really kind of leave it at that.”

 

Kevin said a couple weeks ago that it was his decision to keep on starting Deshaun. I was curious from what you had seen on the field, were you in agreement that Deshaun could continue to start and why, even when various metrics show that he was 32nd and 31st in just about every efficiency metric out there?

“Yeah, Daniel (Oyefusi), so, number one, Kevin and I discuss everything all the time, full support of the decision to continue to play Deshaun. Obviously, it’ll always be a coach’s decision in terms of who’s in the lineup and who’s on the field. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t discuss everything. But Kevin was being, as he always is, truthful in those settings. I’d say this, also to the issues of performance of the offense, it’s a little bit what I alluded to earlier, that when we have performed the way that we have, it’s never just one thing. And again, I wish it was because then it becomes an easier fix. But, unfortunately, like the unit of aggregate, there’s shared ownership and responsibility in all areas.”

 

And also, do you have a general sense of when Deshaun will be maybe clear and will be ready for training camp?

“It’s still very, very early. So, it would really be irresponsible for me to speculate or kind of lay out a timeline to be honest, Daniel (Oyefusi).”

 

We know the Haslam’s want to win. I’m just curious, what kind of feedback are you getting from them and what are their primary concerns right now in the way that season is going?

“Yeah, I don’t think — our fans aren’t happy, we’re not happy internally. The first nine games we haven’t played to an acceptable level. And so really everybody’s focus organizationally is to make the changes both short-term and long-term that would enable us to win consistently.”

 

Andrew, how much will the fan reaction or the fan sentiment towards Deshaun Watson, which was on display in that game with the boos when he was introduced and some cheers when he was down with the Achilles. As you’re making your decisions and thinking about that, does that factor in in any way into your quarterback decisions?

“So, first and foremost, we love our fans. We know that they’re passionate and they love the team. As we make decisions organizationally, it’ll always be within what we think is within the best interest of the franchise. And some of those will be popular, some of those will be unpopular. But that’s really the way that we’ll navigate it.”

 

You mentioned Dorian and there’s some other young guys that have roles that might get bigger, especially with the Za’Darius (Smith) trade, Isaiah McGuire is one of them. Is there a point in the season at 2-7 where you’re still trying to win games, you maybe shift the point of emphasis into seeing the development of some of these young guys or seeing more playing time for some of these young guys that you have brought in?

“It’s a good question, Cam (Justice). Our primary focus every week is going to be to win regardless of who is on the field. I think probably for every team, no different for us, there is going to be some natural transition every season almost really regardless of your record, where there are players on the roster that get the opportunity for more of an expanded role. I think probably a perfect example is Ced (Cedric Tillman) where after we made the Amari (Cooper) trade to Buffalo (Bills), he was a player that we thought was ready for more opportunities and he’s responded quite nicely to the increased chances in the passing game. But the reality of it is, anytime that we have a player take on an expanded role, whether they’re a young player or whether they’re a mid-year vet, we’re doing it with the idea that they’re going to help us win games. If it’s their first time in the role, that they’ll improve as they go and help us win games moving forward. But the primary focus is really to drive winning results.”

 

To go back to the tackle situation, Jed (Jedrick Wills Jr.) not starting right now, Kevin (Stefanski) said Dawand (Jones) is going to start. I guess what’s important for Dawand going forward the rest of the year? Is he a long-term option on the left side for you? And with Jed on the fifth-year option, what’s his future here?

“Yeah, so I would say more generally the tackles, we need all three. We’re going to need all three of them and they’ve all prepared really accordingly. Just because we’ve had a little bit of a carousel there early in the year because of injuries and availability. So really all three of those guys, they just have to continue to be ready and play good football. It’s going to be an important position for us.”

 

Is Ken Dorsey’s job safe and what do you think of the job he is doing?

“Yeah, Jeff (Schudel), we think very highly of Ken. He’s obviously come in and, at times, some less than ideal circumstances with what we’ve navigated early in the year. We continue to have a lot of confidence in him, I know Kevin does as well. And we’re going to continue to move forward and make the adjustments we need to  improve the play on offense.”

 

Does that mean his job is safe?

“Jeff (Schudel), I wouldn’t go into anything for anyone in this type of setting, but we’re very happy with Ken.”

 

In your five drafts you’ve drafted one quarterback and that was in the fifth round. Are you feeling the urgency to use a high pick for a quarterback?

“Yeah, I think again, Tony (Grossi), that’s a decision that we’ll make in April every year. I think I’ve told you this before, we go into the college process as if we have an expansion team. So, we do work on every position and then we’ll make the selections that are necessary based on how the board falls, based on what we do earlier in the free agency period. But it’s a long way away before we write those.”

 

When you did the Watson trade, you explained that it was a seven-month process. So, you were working on that in November of the season. We’re in November, you got to be planning your strategy to get out of this mess at that position.

“Yeah, Tony (Grossi), so every year we actually, with the draft class, that’s usually like an 18-month process. So, that’s something where we’ll get familiar with really as early as May. But it’s a long process, it’s not something that you’re going to make decisions on in November of the year before when the draft is next April. So, we’re doing a lot of work on the entire class, but we’ll let the process play out before we make any decisions.”

 

You guys went on a four-game winning streak last December, the offense played well for a good stretch with Joe Flacco. Why do you think even when Deshaun has been healthy, whether it was that offense or the revamped offense, you haven’t seen that consistent stretch of good offense?

“Yeah, I understand the question, Nate (Ulrich). I would go back to – unfortunately, it isn’t just one thing. And look, we haven’t played clean enough on that side of the ball. We haven’t played synchronized on that side of the ball. And look, we’ve made mistakes in every position group. And it’s unfortunate but the positive thing is we do have the second half of the season to make corrections and play better football there.”

 

So, obviously we’ve heard you talk about how important the quarterback is. The most important in all sports, you have said. Everybody agrees with that too. So, when you have a quarterback who comes in and does have that success and helps you get to the playoffs…he’s not here. Your starter is hurt. Do you regret not re-signing Joe Flacco?

“Yeah, one, Nate, I would say that we have a lot of confidence in the players that are in the quarterback room and in the backup quarterback position. Obviously, Jameis (Winston) played really well against Baltimore had some struggles here against the (Los Angeles) Chargers, but we do have a lot of confidence in those guys in the number two seat.”

 

Given the resources that you placed into bringing Deshaun here; from the draft capital to the contract, the way you’ve talked about Deshaun in terms of being a guy that’s here for several contracts. Given health, given that he’s healthy, why can’t you commit to him still being the quarterback of the future here?

“Yeah, I’d say this, Daniel (Oyefusi), our focus, again, organizationally, is on making sure that he gets healthy. Just the reality of it is with any season ending injury, there is some uncertainty in terms of the recovery. And so, our focus is on making sure that he gets healthy and then we can move from there.”

 

So, a decision on his future would be more so based on health as opposed to what you have seen on the field in terms of performance?

“No, I’d say this, Daniel (Oyefusi), again, our focus is on getting him healthy and we’ll go from there.”

 

Has your drafting been good enough? 

“Yeah, I’d say this, Zac (Jackson), we’re happy with the young players that we have on the roster. We like how they’ve grown into different roles. A number of them are playing key positions for us and we’ll continue to look to bring young talent onto the team, especially with a full slate of draft picks.”

 

Can you take us through the trade deadline and what went through the process of getting rid of Z (Za’Darius Smith) and kind of how you guys are going to navigate the depth that comes along with that?

“So, I’d say with the trade deadline, I think you’ve heard me say that as a general manager, that you’re constantly balancing the short term and the long term, the present and the future. And in terms of the Za’Darius trade, I guess it’s maybe a little bit like what we talked about with Amari. It’s not always about let’s say, moving on from a vet, and some of those decisions are made with the idea that there are other players on the roster that you do want to see in a more expanded role. Z played a lot of good football for us and we were pleased with him. But every decision that we make we think is in the best interest of the team. Whether that’s short term and long term.”

 

With the cap hits that you face with Deshaun coming up, how much will that limit you from a roster building standpoint, especially if he winds up not being your starting quarterback?

“As I mentioned earlier, Scott (Petrak) we never look at anything in like a single year timeframe. We’ll be able to build the team.”

 

You guys were some of the biggest advocates for trying to push the trade deadline back this season. Around the Za’Darius trade, how active were you guys in terms of other deals, potentially and did you feel like the effects of moving it back were there?

“I think you guys or most of you in this room know, we’re always active in the trade market. Whether it’s acquiring or looking for opportunities that make sense for us. So that’ll never change, regardless of where we are in the season. In terms of moving back the deadline, and the activity, I don’t know that I know enough to comment on that because I’m not sure if there was increased volume or not. I guess my instinctive sense would be like, it was a positive thing. But I’m also probably biased because I wanted to see it move back, if I’m being truthful. But I don’t know that I have a great response for that at this current moment.”

 

Did you guys get calls on Myles (Garrett) and did you guys ever consider?

“No.”

 

 Andrew, what is the obligations now between you guys and (Mike) Vrabel? How long do you have him and what is his future with this organization beyond this year?

“Yeah, similar to Jeff’s (Schudel) question, Tony (Grossi), I wouldn’t go into the employment status for any individual. But I would say this, Mike’s done a great job when he’s been here. I think you guys have seen him. He brings a ton of energy, a ton of expertise. He’s worked well with our players, worked well with our staff, and we’re really pleased with him.”

 

Is there a world in which Deshaun Watson can come back here and play more football for you guys again?

“Yeah, I think that’s always possible, Mary Kay (Cabot).”

 

As you strategize to figure out a way to fix this, whether it’s the roster, whether it’s the salary cap. Where does Paul DePodesta fit in this process? A lot of people still have questions about what he does and the amount of weight he carries behind the scenes.

“Yeah, I think, again, I think you’ve heard me say before, Paul’s an incredible thought partner. He has great executive experience across multiple sports. He’s very smart, very empirical and he’s a very valuable member of the organization.”

 

You mentioned how focused on the next remainder of the season is to focus on winning and fixing things. But how crucial is finishing strong and just fixing these things in terms of your roster and your staff heading into the offseason?

“Yeah, I think every organization wants to finish strong, and that’s no different for us. Look, we are blessed with the opportunity to have eight more games, eight more scheduled games in the regular season, and our goal is to maximize that. Look, we can’t change the past, we can’t change the first nine games, but we do have control over the next eight, and that’s going to be our focus moving forward.”