Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam vows he'll still be involved in all key decisions, including free agency and the draft
CLEVELAND -- Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, who reassumed his title as CEO of Pilot Flying J on Monday, assured Browns fans in an interview with the Plain Dealer today that he'll still be heavily involved with running the team, including key decisions in free agency and the draft.
Here are some excerpts from that interview:
* On if he'll still spend as much time with the Browns: "I think that's a very fair question. I would just ask everyone to think back to Aug. 3 when we were announced in Berea and I was CEO of Pilot Flying J from Aug. 2 until Dec. 31st, which was essentially the entire football season. I'm sure there are some decisions we could've made better, but I don't think anyone would question our passion, effort, intensity, devotion to the Cleveland Browns and candidly to Northeast Ohio.''
* On if he'll be in Cleveland as much as he would've been: "It's not going to change at all. I did it last year and the amount of time we spend up there varies depending on what's going on. During the season we're there a day or two a week and we're there on weekends or wherever we're playing. We'll be very active and very visible during training camp and we're obviously going to be there a lot during the free agency and draft periods which are obviously so important to the future of the Browns. We're going to be there as much as we need to be to insure success. We feel great about the team we've put in place but we're still going to be highly involved and I think you saw how much we were there from August to December. We've actually been up there a lot in the last five or six weeks with all of the changes we've made and we're going to have a big presence in Cleveland.''
* On if he'll attend the NFL Combine next week: "I probably will not go to the Combine, but I wasn't planning on going before this so that hasn't changed anything. We'll have plenty of representatives there. I will be there the day before the Combine. We're going to have an all-day meeting on our free agent plans. I'll be there after the Combine when we analyze the Combine, and finalize our free agent plans which I believe the key dates are Mar. 12-16. The next really two and a half months, free agency and the draft are vitally important to the Cleveland Browns and we're going to be heavily involved.
* On if he'll help decide on all key acquisitions: "Absolutely and (CEO Joe Banner) and I had an hour and a half conversation last night. I was driving back from Nashville after visiting stores all day and we went through where we are on all the key personnel, both coaches, players, etc. and we'll continue to be very involved. I know people always ask who has the final say, and this is going to be a collaborative effort just like we've described before and I'll be heavily involved in those decisions.''
* On if he'll make draft visits or be part of the visits here: "Absolutely and we've already had those conversations. And when we bring in key free agents, I've got the dates blocked out that I need to be up there and when zero in on who our key draft picks are going to be, especially our first round pick, we'll be heavily involved in meeting those individuals to make sure we not only get a great player but the kind of person we want to represent the Cleveland Browns.''
* On if he still thinks the Browns won't make a huge splash in free agency: "The coaches and Mike (Lombbardi)and his staff are going through and looking at our roster first, they're looking at the free agent candidates second and we'll have a series of meetings and then we'll finalize those plans. My instincts are strongly the same as we said on Aug. 3rd in Berea, that we'll continue to build through the draft and use free agency to supplement our team and improve our team where advantageous without mortgaging our future.''
* On all the speculation of the big-name players they'll go after: "I've seen some of the rumors of who we're going to sign and that's what makes the NFL so exciting. I'm glad a lot of people are covering it and a lot of people are interested.''
* On not shortchanging the Browns: "Our family has a tremendous investment and we want to win as bad as anybody does up there and we're going to do whatever it takes to win.''