signed the receiver to a lucrative extension. It was a move
meant to speak to future free agents, signifying that that
the era of Cleveland’s not trying was over. Dorsey knew
that Landry, one of the fiercest competitors in the NFL,
was the perfect first piece, a culture shifter. “It was about
bringing the pride of Cleveland back,” the GM says.
Dorsey was only getting started. As a result of Sashi
Brown’s stockpiling assets, the Browns entered the 2018
draft with the most capital in modern NFL history:
six picks in the top 105. Dorsey disconnected from so-
cial media and TV to prevent outsiders from skewing
his opinions. He studied up on teams that had similar
bounties—like the 1965 Bears, who owned the third and
fourth picks and selected future Hall of Famers Dick But-
kus and Gale Sayers—and decided that if he stayed true to
his beliefs, he would land
some franchise building
blocks. Dorsey’s core
tenet, as scrawled on the
whiteboard in his office:
don’t be scared.
He wasn’t. With the
first and fourth picks
he drafted Oklahoma
QB Baker Mayfield and
Ohio State corner Denzel
Ward, two bold selections
predicted by few.
By August those pieces
appeared to be paying
off. The Browns put up
35 points in their final pre-
season game, against the
Lions, starting with three
long Mayfield-led scoring
drives, and Dorsey could
hear the calls to anoint the
next would-be savior.
The GM remembers that game, though, for some-
thing other than his prized pick. It was the first time
he noticed the genial career assistant who that day had
been handed play-calling duties.FREDDIE KITCHENS always wanted to be a head
coach, but he was never deemed the sort of wun-
derkind who gets a pass on paying his dues. The good
ol’ boy with the Alabama twang first oversaw running
backs and tight ends at D-II Glenville (W.Va.) State; he
bounced to LSU, North Texas and Mississippi State,
then to the Cowboys and the Cardinals, where he spent
11 years in various roles before leaving after the 2017he was fired in June ’17, after consecutive AFC division-
round playoff losses.
Dorsey piled his wife and two children into a car the
next day and drove to their cottage in Door County, Wis.
For two weeks he went fishing and boating on Lake
Michigan, took his kids to the zoo and to the Fourth of July
parade. He played mini golf and real golf. When it rained,
he went bowling. After returning to their K.C. home,
he spent his days hunkered in the basement, watching
game film, jotting down notes and crafting a document
he’d entitle “31 Core Competencies for Building and
Sustaining Success in the NFL.” If ever he got another
shot, he’d be ready.
Eventually the phone rang. A voice on the other end
asked if he wanted to interview for a job with the Browns.
Some of Dorsey’s friends said
he’d be crazy to go to the city
where careers end, but that
didn’t scare him. He thought
about the fan base, the history.
The idea of reestablishing the
early dynasty intrigued him.
On Dec. 7, 2017, the Browns
made two announcements.
Out was Sashi Brown, who
had overseen a deliberate
tanking operation, cutting or
trading most of Cleveland’s
best players for cap space
and future draft picks. In was
Dorsey, joining a team with
12 losses in 12 games.
For the next four weeks the
new GM stayed in the back-
ground, watching “to see how
everything works—the over-
arching culture, the mecha-
nisms within the building,”
Dorsey says. He tried to pinpoint where he needed to build
the roster and came to the worst conclusion: everywhere.
Only 19 of 53 players would return the following season.
In March 2018, after the Browns completed just the
second winless campaign in the modern era, Dorsey
made the team’s first major acquisition in years, acquir-
ing disgruntled slot receiver Jarvis Landry, who, despite
accumulating 400 catches over his first four seasons—the
most ever to start a career—was seen in Miami as too one-
dimensional and too emotional. (His constant pleading
with coach Adam Gase for more involvement and his
ejection from a game for fighting didn’t help.) Dipping
into the league’s deepest cap pool, Dorsey then promptly
DIA
MO
ND
IMA
GES
/GE
TTY
(^) IM
AGE
S
KITCHENS AID
The bar for
success is low:
Cleveland hasn’t
had a winning
full-time coach
since the ’80s.“I had to fight
for everything I
ever got,” says
Kitchens, “and
a lot of people
in Cleveland do
the same thing.
They are looked
at as never being
good enough.”