After Missing Out On Jimmy Garoppolo, The Browns Front Office Failed To Get A Trade In For A.J. McCarron On Time

Got several emails last night that coaching staff for #Browns HIGHLY upset at front office.

Coaches in building working, FO went home at 5

— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) October 31, 2017

2/ while coaches continued to work the night before the trade deadline. Sasha Brown was unaware of the Jimmy G trade and was actually

— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) October 31, 2017

3/ informed of it by an irate coaching staff who had lobbied to acquire him, over an hour after it happened.

Coaching staff feels that

— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) October 31, 2017

4/ the front office is undercutting them by not acquiring the talent they need to win, and not putting in matching effort to do so.

— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) October 31, 2017

Bengals and Browns tried, but failed, to complete trade for QB AJ McCarron before deadline, per sources. Deal was “close”; not finalized.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 31, 2017

I want to make a joke about the Cleveland Browns front office knocking Andy Reid from his throne as the NFL's worst clock manager, but I'm pretty Sashi Brown is just actively trying to get himself fired at this point. If you can think of a better excuse for an executive of a winless team without a capable QB to be tapping his foot and staring at his watch at 4:58 PM then you can let me know, but having the vast majority of the following business day to get a deal done for A.J. McCarron and coming up short on time is basically straight out of 'Office Space'. Like, assuming the entirety of their braintrust didn't accidentally schedule family vacations in third world countries during the trade deadline, this is occupational disregard at it's finest. If today's ridiculous amount of activity is any indication, 31 NFL teams were working around the clock while the Cleveland Browns spent the day clocking around the work with an ass backwards 'first one out, last one in' mentality.

I have no inside information to tell me differently so I simply have to assume that Sashi Brown waited until 3:58 to give the Bengals a ring like he wasn't even trying to get a deal done, but rather just trying to prove to Coach Hue Jackson that he placed the call that could have potentially gotten a deal done. Almost as if he were an office worker that was intentionally trying to catch the voicemail of one of their more chatty clients during their lunch hour. Just on the phone like "What's that? It's 4PM already? Shucks, guess there's no need to draw up alllll that paperwork for that exchange we briefly and belatedly discussed". It seems odd that a historically hapless organization in a business as competitive as professional sports would treat the most important position on their roster like you or I treat an adult friend on a non-momentous birthday, but how else could you possibly explain the lack of urgency from the Cleveland Browns' front office?

UPDATE: Almost impossible to be this inept...

Bengals and Browns actually agreed to AJ McCarron trade at 3:55 pm, per source involved. Bengals approved trade to NFL, Browns did not.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 31, 2017

Grossi says that apparently the Browns were celebrating their trade and forgot to call in the deal before the deadline...

— Aaron Goldhammer (@HammerNation19) October 31, 2017

NFL rejected Browns request to overturn AJ McCarron trade. Even though Browns’ notification of trade arrived moments too late, NFL said no.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 31, 2017