Lost in the recent termination of Browns G.M. George Kokinis is the apparent reality that Cleveland finagled the hiring of Kokinis by officially giving him final say over the roster -- but by unofficially not letting him use it.
It's the same thing that happened a couple of years ago in Miami, when the Dolphins gave final say to G.M. Jeff Ireland in order to be able to get him from the Cowboys, even though anyone with a pulse and an ounce of common sense knows that Bill Parcells has veto power there.
Per a league source, the Ravens will not be making any claims regarding the Browns' arguable misrepresentation of Kokinis' authority in order to hire him away from Baltimore under circumstances that otherwise would have allowed the Ravens to keep Kokinis from leaving. The reason? Despite the high degree of animosity between the two cities in which the teams play, the owners -- Randy Lerner and Steve Bisciotti -- have a very good relationship.
Under the rules, a front-office employee still under contract may be hired by another team without the consent of his current employer only if final say over the roster is included in the new duties. By all appearances, the Ravens were not going to let Kokinis leave unless he received final say.
So Kokinis did, but he really didn't. Instead, it appears that coach Eric Mangini wanted -- and got -- a worker bee, and that the Browns put whatever they had to put in the contract in order to get said worker bee.
Then, apparently, when the worker bee was merely being a worker bee and when the queen bee needed a scapegoat, the queen bee complained that the worker bee was merely being a worker bee.
Though the Ravens won't be making a stink about this one, it could get very ugly between the Browns and Kokinis. We'll have more on this later in the day.
Ravens won't be making any claims against the Browns
Posted by Mike Florio on November 8, 2009 11:02 AM ET
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Latest stories in: Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Latest News and Rumors, NFL Mobile Exclusives - Rumors, Top Stories
Latest stories in: Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Latest News and Rumors, NFL Mobile Exclusives - Rumors, Top Stories
It doesn't take much reading between the lines to figure out that Mangini is a world class asshole. He's burning a ton of bridges and his reputation is growing tattered. Once this is all over and he's fired, it will be interesting to see who will hire him and for what. Assistant to the assistant quality control coach for the Raiders might even be a stretch. He and Al would be perfect together.
moats to start ilo fumbler slaton for houston...
Lerner can't decide what the GM should be allowed to do. The problem with the Browns is at the top. Lerner really doesn't have a clue as to how to hire a coach or a GM worth squat.
Lerner (Mangini) can't decide on a starting quarterback because one of them has a big pending bonus they want to avoid?
Bernie Kosar wants to become a "worker bee"?
Jamal Lewis wants to retire?
Anyone else?
Do the Ravens have to file some sort of charges if the Clowns broke the rules or does the Commish enforce things like this on his own?
"Then, apparently, when the worker bee was merely being a worker bee and when the queen bee needed a scapegoat, the queen bee complained that the worker bee was merely being a worker bee."
That sounds about right. That front office in Cleveland is the most vile, toxic place. What a joke.
Hey BearsRule......You hit it right on the head!
Like it or not Browns fans the Ravens , are a good team who try to do everything the right way