Cleveland Browns: Jimmy Haslam seems to finally get it

The Cleveland Browns have had little success during the early stages of Jimmy Haslam’s ownership, but the franchise appears to finally be turning the corner.

Truck-stop magnate Jimmy Haslam bought the Cleveland Browns back in 2012, and for the first few years, his fingerprints were all over the franchise. Haslam fired head coach Pat Shurmur and general manager Tom Heckert after his first season as owner. Rob Chudzinski only lasted one season as head coach, and Haslam pulled the plug on Mike Pettine after two seasons.

In addition to having a quick trigger regarding personnel decisions, Haslam also meddled in roster decisions — unless you really believe he had nothing to do with the selection and subsequent promotion of quarterback Johnny Manziel. The end result was a Browns franchise that was just as inept as it was under previous ownership.

A little over a year ago, Haslam’s attitude appeared to change. He brought in former baseball analytics guru Paul DePodesta, promoted Sashi Brown to Executive VP of Football Operations and hired Hue Jackson as head coach. More importantly, Haslam loosened his grip on the franchise and allowed his new front office to do it collective job.

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On the field, the result here was a dismal 1-15 season in 2016. For the franchise, though, the Browns finally stripped things down and began the process of a proper long-term rebuild. Haslam seems to finally understand that tearing things down was the right move and that giving his front office plenty of leash is the right way to approach the rebuild.

Haslam had this to say on the matter, per Dan Labbe of Cleveland.com:

"“I think we’ve learned the hard way if you want to do this and do it right building through the draft and being patient and getting the right people in place is the right way to do it.”"

The Browns just might finally have the right people in place. Jackson, by all accounts, is a coach the players truly believe in. Brown and DePodesta have completely transformed the roster in just two offseasons, adding a plethora of draft picks, acquiring young free-agent talent and extending young players with the potential to be building blocks.

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Cutting salary dollars and parting with older veterans who probably won’t be around for the full rebuild helped create that 1-15 campaign, but it was necessary. DePodesta once likened that phase of the rebuild to tearing down a building before revamping it.

Not the process of building upon Cleveland’s new foundation can begin. It’s going to take time for these early moves to translate into wins on the field, though, so patience is going to be extremely important.

A couple of years ago, Haslam might not have had the patience to see this kind of long-term reconstruction through to the end. Now, though, he finally seems to understand the process, saying this to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com:

"“Last year was harder than we thought,” Haslam said in his annual training camp address. “None of us are exactly sure what’ll happen this year. I know we’ll be a better team. So I think 2018 — and I’m not hedging my bets — 2018, 2019 you should see a substantially better football team.”"

Haslam finally appears to understand that he can’t hope for a quick fix or a fast turnaround for his football franchise. This is great for Browns fans, who haven’t seen a proper rebuild since the franchise first returned in 1999.

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For the first time since 1999, the Browns actually seem to have a clear direction in place. Despite his early pitfalls as an owner, Haslam actually deserves some credit for allowing the franchise to find its way.