Apart from the reality that giving lawyer-turned-football-executive Sashi Brown final say over the roster will make the Cleveland G.M. job less attractive to G.M. candidates who are at the top of the G.M. industry, the decision to elevate Brown to the top non-coaching football position within the Browns will make it harder to hire someone currently under contract with another team.
Because Sashi Brown has control over the 53-man roster, the Cleveland G.M. position doesn’t qualify for the portion of the tampering policy that allows a team to hire as G.M. someone currently working for another team, without permission from that team.
Which means that if the Browns target an up-and-coming scout or director of college scouting or director of pro personnel or any other person under contract with another team, the other team can refuse to let the person be interviewed and hired.
It means that the Browns will either have to hire someone that another team doesn’t want to keep, or they’ll have to hire someone who currently isn’t employed.
Whether the Browns thought that specific wrinkle through remains to be seen. If they didn’t, it definitely could put a crimp in their plans for interviewing G.M. candidates.