[h=3]Potential changes in Cleveland[/h]7:57AM ET
[h=5]Cleveland Browns[/h]
There have been rumors regarding the possible firing of
Cleveland Browns GM Tom Heckert and HC Pat Shurmur since before Jimmy Haslam bought the club; the thinking was that Haslam was going to bring in a whole new group, a process that started with the ouster of team president Mike Holmgren, who was replaced by Joe Banner. As the season has gone along, there's been much speculation regarding Heckert and Shurmur, and that has ramped up significantly as the end of the season fast approaches.
Sunday's lopsided loss -- to a team with a backup QB -- may have been the final tipping point.
Todd Jones of
the Columbus Dispatch writes that Sunday's game was a microcosm of the Browns' 2012 campaign -- despite some encouraging moments, the tail end resembled the darkening skies that beset the stadium. With the loss on Sunday, the Browns clinched finishing with a losing record for the fifth consecutive season.
As for who comes on next, a very intriguing scenario was presented last week: the Browns would bring in NFL Network analyst Michael Lombardi as GM, with University of Alabama HC Nick Saban
returning to Cleveland as the replacement for Shurmur. Both men worked for Cleveland during the previous iteration of the team (Lombardi from 1987 to 1996, Saban from 1991 to 1994).
