According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Philadelphia Eagles have hired a new Vice President of Football Operations. That man is Andrew Berry and here is all you need to know.
Most recently, Berry spent three seasons working with the Cleveland Browns and was hired by the team in 2016 at Age-29, which is very young for a ‘Vice President of Player Personnel’ role. During that time, the Browns obviously experienced the lowest of lows amidst some recently exceptional highs and much of that is to do with the dramatic roster turnaround that the former Harvard cornerback oversaw.
Prior to his role in Cleveland, he was a Pro Scouting Director in Indianapolis after working his way up from a scouting assistant, which he earned in 2009. Spending six years with the Colts, Berry rapidly rose up the ladder. After being poached by the Browns, former GM Sashi Brown had this to say:
“Andrew understands what it takes to build a winning team and the individual traits that are essential in looking at each player that make up that team,” Brown said in a statement, via the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. “Andrew’s strategic and relentless approach to improving his craft and this team will positively impact our short and long-term opportunities.”
What does this mean for the rest of the front office? Well, let’s not get confused. Howie Roseman is the EXECUTIVE Vice President of Football Operations, which means he now has a new apprentice to work closely with. Joe Douglas has a role similar, but his replaces the word ‘operations’ with ‘player personnel’.
This is a big move for the Eagles, who seem to have developed a tendency to sign budding young executives who are labelled with the ‘Future GM’ tab. In a few short years, Berry has gone from a scouting director, to overseeing one of the league’s biggest rebuild projects.
Whether it’s the drafting of Baker Mayfield or a draft class that one year before, left fans purring just as much, it’s safe to say that the Harvard grad has a nose for talent.
It seems as though Berry will work closely with Roseman and Douglas, after all, Roseman has been in Berry’s shoes as a young, overlooked staffer that’s had to claw his way to the top. Not only that, but Berry was cherry-picked by Bill Polian for that first scouting role…and that says a lot. The Eagles’ continued vision to build the footballing team of the future, takes another step forward with this hire.
There’s a fantastic article that dives into Berry’s road to an NFL front office, for those who want to know more about the newest member of the Eagles super team staff.
https://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2017/07/andrew_berry_cleveland_browns.html
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
