APAs expected, the Patriots have hired former Browns G.M. Mike Lombardi.
The club announced Thursday that Lombardi will be an assistant to the coaching staff.
Lombardi had reportedly traveled to the Combine with New England officials.
Lombardi was the Browns’ General Manager in 2013. The club parted ways with Lombardi and CEO Joe Banner last week and promoted Ray Farmer to G.M.
Lombardi worked with Patriots coach Bill Belichick in Cleveland from 1991-1995.
Assistant to the coaching staff… is that just a notch below the title of General Manager?
Just what Bill needs, more bad advice during the draft process.
Can he ever go back to NFL Network?
So Lombardi, have you cut the sleeves off my hoodie yet? I’ll need it by game time. And that may be too much for him.
Or maybe the Patriots wanted a Lombardi to polish The ones they already have…
In other words, go break down this film and get me some coffee, Mike.
What’s the catch?
This is the first Lombardi the Patriots have gotten since SpyGate
Makes sense: you have to be close to a coaching staff in order to undermine it.
So Lombardi stockpiled draft picks for Cleveland, including two #1’s and a league-high five in the first 3 rounds, while leaving them $46 million under the cap. But all he seems to get here in hate from Browns fans. I don’t get it. It seems to me your ownership is the principal problem. Not even sure that clown will stay out of prison.
“Assistant to the coaching staff” .. He’s going to be carrying the cords behind Belichick.
This is just Belichick doin his old Cleveland buddy a solid because he probably feels a little responsible for getting him canned by making constant sales pitches to him for head coaches the Browns really didn’t want. ( Schiano and McDaniels.) Btw their years together ( 91 – 95 ) weren’t exactly stellar. What a waste of money.
The hate from Browns fans isn’t the shape he left them – both in draft picks and salary cap. The hate is that he was invisible during his year there, and was previously working in TV for a number of years. Just like their current and previous coach, no one else wanted to interview Lombardi for a job. It was a bad hire from day one, and he’s maybe taken some that should be directed at Haslam and Banner, but the Browns fans should hate that whole front office.
And that’s the last “Lombardi” that Belicheat and Brady will ever see together.
Will Belichick hire two more stooges to make 3?
Am I really the only one that knows whats going on right now? They are building for the FUTURE.
Think about it, now they have Belichicks replacement in McDaniels, Brady’s in Mallett, and GM will be Lombardi.
Fetch Tom his Uggs, while you’re at it Mike.
All the haters can keep on making lame spygate jokes that got old in 2007. Too bad for them, the Patriots will keep winning games, making the playoffs, and being annual Super Bowl contenders.
Three Lombardi trophies, eight AFC Championship game appearances, and 18 playoff wins all since the 2001 season. Team of the decade. Most teams haven’t had that much success in their entire HISTORY.
Lombardi was rumored to had advised Belichick in the 2010 and 2012 drafts. Some players the Patriots picked in those two drafts include: Gronk, Mccourty, Spikes, Chandler Jones, Hightower and Dennard. He also brings all the knowledge and information he acquired while running the Browns’ personnel unit. I think he’ll be a valuable asset for Belichick and the Patriots.
The title make him sound like a glorified slappie, though I expect he will be something more than that.
Between 2010 and 2012, here’s a list of important Patriots that Lombardi may have had an influence on drafting:
2010: Devin McCourty, Rob Gronkowski, Brandon Spikes, Aaron Hernandez (oops), Zoltan Mesko, Brandon Deaderick
2011: Nate Solder, Shane Vereen, Stevan Ridley, Ryan Mallett, Marcus Cannon
2012: Chandler Jones, Dont’a Hightower, Alfonzo Dennard
Maybe he can fleece a team for a number 1 by trading Ridley, and set the pats up for years to come like he has in Cleveland, and here he has top notch ownership unlike the cuckoos nest in the rust belt.
the cleveland browns are a pathetic organization. plain and simple. lombardi did them one last solid by dumping that bum trent richardson, at least they have that going for them.
Assistant to the regional manager
So the hate for Lombardi coming from Browns fans is because he was “invisible during his year there?” Thus, forget about the $46M under the cap and five picks in three rounds?
Dude, Punxsatawney Phil could be my GM and stick his head out of the ground once a year as long as he did the job. I never heard a peep out of the Seahawks GM ’til they had won the Super Bowl.
Ummm. how about spending that 46 million and grabbing players?
Who would fans care how much cap space there is if the GM doesn’t utilize it?
His biggest free agent splash was Davonne Bess who single-handedly lost a game, and brought further embarassment to the team with pot arrest.