Former Browns G.M. George Kokinis, abruptly thrown under the bus during his first season on the job, had taken the position while serving as the director of pro personnel in Baltimore.
And Kokinis was spotted with the Ravens’ contingent at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, prompting talk that Kokinis could be returning to the team. So we’re done a little poking around, and Kokinis indeed could be rejoining the Ravens in an undetermined capacity. If it happens, it most likely will occur after the 2010 draft.
Kokinis was fired for cause, with the Browns never identifying whatever it is that Kokinis did to prompt the team to slam the door on his ongoing compensation. Instead, vague rumors emerged -- which the Browns never addressed one way or the other.
At the core, the perception remains that Kokinis, a long-respected executive, had been pushed into the background by coach Eric Mangini and that Kokinis opted not to fight his long-time friend. Given that the move occurred at a time when the Browns were among the very worst teams in the league, it’s hard not to conclude based on the available evidence that Kokinis was made to be a scapegoat for the team’s performance, and that the move never would have occurred if the Browns hadn’t been so bad at the time.
That said, the Browns were very bad at the time, and Kokinis was one of the people potentially accountable for the team’s performance. But with the team firing him for cause in an apparent effort not to have a list of buyout recipients larger than Travis Henry’s family tree, Kokinis came away from the experience with a blow to his reputation that was bigger than it should have been.