[LitlBuck]

Cleveland.com

There is some logic as to how this has played out for the Cleveland Browns
by Terry Pluto / Plain Dealer Columnist
Monday January 26, 2009, 3:13 PM

BEREA -- George Kokinis is in charge of picking the Browns' 53-man roster. That's worth saying first, even though the team's new general manager insisted that fact isn't "important."

But it matters a lot, and Kokinis knows it.

Someone must have the final say on the roster, be it the coach or the GM. Not every decision can be the product of a "consensus," a favorite Kokinis term that will soon be the motto for the front office. At some point, new coach Eric Mangini will want someone, Kokinis will prefer someone else. The GM should prevail because the GM should not be consumed with just winning the next game, as is the case with most coaches.

The GM's job is to build for today and tomorrow.

There are three ways to construct a roster:

1) The college draft.

2) Veteran free agency.

3) Bargain basement shopping, digging players who were not drafted and/or cast aside by other teams.

A good GM excels in all three areas, while a coach simply can't cover all that personnel territory and scheme to beat the Steelers and Ravens, too. Kokinis admits he has spent most of his recent seasons on the pro personnel side, but sounded confident that the scouts put in place by former GM Phil Savage can give him the information needed for the draft, especially since some of those scouts previously worked in Baltimore and use the same basic system as the Ravens.

As Kokinis said at the Monday press conference, it is critical that the coach and GM respect each other. The less strife, the fewer internal battles and nitpicks, the more likely a franchise can have a shot at success -- assuming reasonable people have made intelligent decisions.
Continued