Beaux Knows

[SpankyAlexander]

Chapter 1: All Eyes On Me

The air is cold and crisp as an orange flame of light is just barely visible in the sleepy town of Berea. As the downtown bank clock's bright red numbers change to read 5:01, across town at 76 Lou Groza Blvd a lone light radiates through the foggy darkness. Inside the walls and down the hall the source of the light beams out from an office. A small, orange plexiglass plaque reads "Beaux Bryant General Manager". A black leather office chair faces away from the doorway towards the expansive window that covers the back of the office. The occupant of the chair dressed in a brown polo, khaki dress pants, and black shined shoes stares intently out of the glass that overlooks manicured grass turf below. In the haunting light of the morning, the congregation of dew that has taken up residence on the field in the night is awakened by the encroaching ball of light making its way from behind the horizon, illuminating sparkles off the droplets like camera flashes. Darkness fades from the wall of the building as doors creak open and shut, shoes squeak, heels click, lights begin to buzz, and light chatter fills the once dead air.

A light tap on the door frame followed by a "Mr. Bryant?". Snaps the entranced man back from the solitary of his thoughts. "Yes!" Bryant belts as he feverishly whips the chair around to address the figure in the doorway. A woman in her maybe late thirties with shoulder-length brown hair, and a blue dress stands in the doorway holding an orange binder with a thin brown line running down the front right of it. "Hh-hi, Mr. Bryant I'm Donna. Donna Podolak, I'm your Executive Assistant. Mr. Haslam and the other execs are down in the conference room if you would like to follow me". "Absolutely!" Bryant answers as he rises from his chair and veers left out of the door into the bustling hall of employees and telephone rings, and follows Ms. Podolak down the hall. The two snake through a labyrinth of doors and hallways matching each other's pace. Ms. Podolak slows as she passes a room with a window that spans the length of the room with a glass door at the end, a table congregation of people encircle a table inside. She stops to opens the door and smiles handing the binder in her left arm to Beaux, "Welcome to the Cleveland Browns Mr. Bryant!" she adds releasing the binder to him and walking back down the hall.

"Beaux great to see you!" Jimmy Haslam, Owner of the Cleveland Browns, proclaims from his chair at the end of the table. Beaux takes a seat at the opposite end of the long rectangular glass table. Haslam begins to point to each of the seated staff members with small white and black nameplates in front of each of them, "Beaux this is Chris Cooper Director Football Administration, Ted Tywang Director Legal Affairs, Andrew Berry and Ken Kovash Vice Presidents Player Personnel, Joe Sheehan Head Athletic Trainer, Phil Dangerfield Vice President Operations,.." he continues around the table until he has formally introduced Bryant to each. "Nice to meet you all." Beaux responded pleasantly. "I just wanted to give you an opportunity to see and meet the staff. We are a team and we are going to all need one another throughout the season so now is the time to set the tone for the season". The group continues their meeting for about an hour taking football, life, and other friendly banter.

Beaux had just touched the top of his chair back in his office after the meeting to begin looking over the binder Ms. Podolak had given him when he heard his door close behind him. "Umm...Beaux can I talk to you for a minute?" the man at the door said hesitantly, turning to face Bryant revealing himself as Mr. Haslam. "Sure, Mr. Haslam what is it"? Beaux remarked perplexed, gesturing Haslam towards a brown couch in the corner of his office. Mr. Haslam let out a sigh as he set back on the leather couch and crosses his right leg over his left revealing his grey socks underneath his black pants. "Well, Beaux I know it's a touchy topic and it's your first day in. But, well we need to address the elephant in the room. Hue was brought here and I believed he could turn this franchise around and he has done some good. But I'm not sure if I want to keep him on going forward with you and the new management". Beaux took a seat in an armchair in front of the couch, slightly taken aback by Mr. Haslam's statement. "I looked over the team record last night and how the team has progressed and regressed over Hue's time. I think he has done a good job amassing picks to build the team, but picks are no good if you don't hit on them. Garrett and Njoku did have decent years, but we really need to find a franchise guy at quarterback. We will continue to wallow in mediocrity until we do". Mr. Haslam uncrossed his legs planting both feet on the floor and leaning up towards Beaux slightly annoyed, "Beaux" he responded sternly, "I know what the team did last year! I was the owner! I want to know can you work with Hue and do you think he can lead the team you build"? Beaux, feeling his palms begin to perspire on to the leather of the arm of the chair under his hand,"I'm sure we could make it work". Mr. Haslam grinned, slightly as to offer acceptance of Beaux's response, and leaned back again on the couch. "Say I did decide to move on from Hue. At this stage what options are out there"? Beaux lets out a nervous chuckle as he compiles a mental list of top possible candidates. Well: Frank Reich in Philly has done a really good job with Carson and the Eagles did win the SuperBowl, also Matt LaFleur has done a great job with the Rams and Jerod Goff. He also helped make RGIII(Haslam snears) look like a stud and Matt Ryan an MVP. Teryl Austin in DET is one of the best minds in the league". Haslam leans forward and waves to halt Bryant. He stares out of the window behind Bryant for a few moment then sorrowfully chuckles, "You know when I bought the Browns I thought it would be an easy fix. Just out with the old, and the new would change the culture. I just want to hoist that trophy for the city and make the Browns a respected franchise, but here we are at 0-16 and our fans are throwing parades for our failure". With that Haslam put his hands on his knees and rises to his feet, and Beaux rises in accord. Haslam makes a slow stroll for the door and grasp for the handle. As he turns the handle and opens the door he bows his head and then slowly raises it to Beaux. "Let's move forward". Beaux stands stunned as the words hit him like a linebacker. "Don't worry I'll handle Hue and the media. You get me a list by Friday and we will set up interviews for next Monday. Sound good'? "Yy-yeah, sounds good.' the words come out like a waterfall off the edge of his mouth.

Beaux feeling suddenly mentally drained turns his chair towards the window and sits down reflecting on the morning's proceedings, staring out over the treetops at the rising sun and sees a small flower at the base of a tree, a single spot of color among the vastness of white on the ground and feels a sense of warmth in his stomach. "All eyes on you Beaux." he puffs and spins his chair to open the binder on his desk.

[SpankyAlexander]

Chapter 2: Making Moves

GM Beaux Bryant and new Cleveland Browns head coach Matt Lafleur walk in lockstep discussing the events and emotions of the recent press conference to introduce Matt as the new head coach. As the two pass the in-glassed meeting room, Beaux gestures to the door and steps in front of Matt to open it and show Lafleur a table of men in Browns attire circling a rectangular table. "Matt, this is Andrew Berry and Ken Kovash co-Vice President of Player Personnel, Mike Cetta Director of Scouting, along with Bobby Vega Director of College Scouting and Dan Saganey Director of Pro Scouting, David A. Jenkins Chief Financial Officer,..." Bryant continues around the table familiarising the new head coach with the members present for the meeting. "Morning guys!" Bryant announces setting the orange binder he had been holding down and takes a seat at the head of the table, while Lafleur takes a seat at the other end. "Welp guys, it's that time, free agency starts in a couple of weeks. We know what we have and what we need. We can't afford another 0-16 season. We'll let Saganey open us up with his suggestions on targets and we'll go through them one by one and give opinions and let coach Lafleur decided how he feels about each so that we can form a plan going forward".

Dan Saganey shuffles some papers and clears his throat "Yes, well right now I think our biggest need as of now is addressing the quarterback position. This is a fairly strong QB free agent class this year. I personally think we should go after one of the top QBs in free agency, we have the cap to afford one and we will get a proven guy and won't need to relive previous mistakes of having a revolving door of 1st and 2nd round guys coming in and out". Lafleur lights up at the talks and interjects "I would like to pursue Cousins, he's a guy I've had and know and know will fit my system". "So do you think we have anything with Deshone or is it a complete loss?" Bryant breaks in. Bobby Vega leans forward against the table and addresses the topic, "Well he is still young and we saw a lot in him last year, but I don't think he is ready now. He may be an Alex Smith or Case Keenum type player that develops down the line so he is worth keeping and letting him grow without putting him in the fire every Sunday". "So, instead of a Cousins or Garoppolo(((Did not sign with SF, is an FA))) should we maybe look at a vet that can be a stop gap for a year or two?" Lafleur responds. "Maybe, I think a guy like Case Keenum or Sam Bradford or Nick Foles could come in and do the job for a year and if we don't have anything in Kizer then we move on." Saganey rebutts. "I know Foles and Keenum are the hot topic, but I don't think they are good bets. Neither one has shown the ability to lead teams for a season constantly. There is too much that points towards their seasons as flukes." Bryant intercedes as the topic begins to grow quite quickly after. "And I don't run Philly Special!" Lafleur laughs. The discussion runs for around another hour as the group continues on down the agenda of players and positions discussing details and hammering out the path for free agents and on.

After the meeting with the other personnel; Bryant, Lafleur, OC Byron Leftwich, and DC Greg Williams meet in Bryant's office to discuss further FA plans and team scheme and needs. "We need a playmaking receiver, Coleman and Njoku are not enough. We really need a guy like TE Graham or WR Robinson," Lafluer leads the conversation. "I also think we need to target a weakside LB so that we can move Collins to strongside LB were he needs to be. We are also in need of a weakside DE, Ogbah has a lot of potential but it has not translated in too much success yet. If we want to challenge and be competitive we need difference makers." Williams adds as Bryant continues writing in his binder all the notes his coaches are giving him. Beaux finishes his notes and looks up to address DC Greg Williams "Well, Gregg I've had talks with Houston and Brian Gaine says that Terryl Austin is probably moving the defense to a 4-3, so if that happens, Mercilus may be the odd man out. I'll get on the phone this afternoon and call them up and see if we can't get a discussion going". "Matt I'll definitely get with David over in Finance to see where that will put us with the cap and try to contact his agent in the next few weeks to find out a price and get back to you".

[SpankyAlexander]

3 Weeks Later

Camera flashes lit up Bryant and Lafleur faces as they stood in front of hungry reporters equipped with notepads to introduce the top acquisitions QB Kirk Cousins and Jimmy Graham in free agency and address media questions about the franchise.

Reporter: "Coach Lafleur, can you tell us were Jimmy and Kirk your primary targets? Also, how do you see them impacting the team next year"?

Lafleur: "Yes, Jimmy and Kirk were #1 and #2 on our board of targets and I think they will dramatically improve our offense. We love Njoku and Coleman and what they brought last year, and this isn't to replace them it is to build on the foundation they laid down last year. Jimmy is a great threat and Kirk and Reed had a great rapport in Washington and we wanted to go out and bring in a threat like Reed offered".

Reporter: "On top of free agency you also brought in some quality talent through the trade market. Who was the lead person responsible for bringing in those players"?

Lafleur: "Well, I like to say me and Beaux played equal roles, but in honesty, Beaux deserves most of the credit. He tore phone lines up scouring the league for talent to bring in".

Reporter: "Mr. Bryant can you tell us how these players you brought in add to the team"?

Bryant: "They add a huge boost. The Texans wanted to move to a 4-3 with coach Austin taking over and they had some guys that got lost in the shuffle moving to the 4-3 and that gave us the opportunity to bring in Mercilus and it just so happened we lost out on Ansah in free agency and it allowed us a second chance to bring him in. And the opportunity to bring in two 7-12 sack a year guys do not come every day so we felt it was worth the 2nd, 3rd and 4th round picks. Also, FS was a huge hole in our secondary, Peppers has a lot of potential, but we were not sure if he was ready just yet. Bethea is a guy that has done this for a long time and will hopefully mentor Peppers and make him into the guy we believe he can be".

Reporter: "Any love for Punter Jordan Berry or Kicker Dan Bailey"?

Lafleur: "They were terrific luxury hires that we all think will make the difference. Working in LA around Hekker and Leg-A-Tron really showed the value of guys like that".

Reporter: "Going in to the draft what position would you say is most important. Will you guys look for a running back after not resigning Crowell and not signing anyone in FA"?

Bryant: "We have a lot of different scenarios laid out for the draft weekend and have a lot of guys we believe will make an impact on the team. We will look at running back, but we do have Duke Johnson so we feel comfortable at the position. But we would like to bring some depth to the team. We are also looking at some offensive linemen that can maybe replace Joe when he decides to call it a career. Hopefully he waits 5 or 6 years for that though"!

[SpankyAlexander]

April 19th, 2018

Cleveland Says Goodbye To A Legend

Cleveland has been a wave of emotion today as Cleveland Browns General Manager Beaux Bryant and Owner Jim Haslam annouce the trade of future Hall of Fame Left Tackle. Bryant told reporters that he and Thomas have been speaking for around a month about the possibility of leaving. Thomas stated that he greatly appreciated the Browns for believing in him and picking him. Bryant added that Thomas wanted to be with a team that could compete for a Super Bowl. The Browns and Minnesota Vikings reached the deal late Wednesday night and Thomas received a call from Bryant this morning. The deal was for the Vikings 2019 1st, 6th, and 7th round picks.

[SpankyAlexander]

The board before him is almost overwhelming, a year's worth of travel, video, meetings, notes, all trimmed down to 150 names. Bryant stands in front with his hands on his hips admiring the yellow, white, pink, blue and red nameplates and pictures each name in a Browns jersey. He flips the light back off as he walks out of the war room and down the dim hallway. He walks into his office and sits down, the clock his computer reads 6:05 as it bounces back and forth off each corner of the screen. He picks up the phone and begins to dial on the pad. There is a pause while he listens for an answer. "So what's the word? Is there a deal?" the voice responds. "Let's do it, Chris. Let's keep this just between me and you until eight so that may staff hears it from me and not ESPN." Bryant flatly responds and hangs up with no other words. A long sigh escapes Beaux lungs as he turns to stare out the window as the sun begins to break over the beautiful lush green trees in the distance.

8:00 am

After a morning workout in the gym and a shower, Beaux now makes his way towards the Cleveland Browns war room. He stops at the door and takes a deep breath, before opening the door to the Browns personnel watching Mel Kiper, Louis Riddick, and Chris Mortensen talking about some players on ESPN. "It's just not the same without Gruden!" one assistant rant as the draft room begins to laugh.

"Guys! Listen up." Bryant belts as he walks towards the front of the room to address the group. "I called Chris with the Colts this morning and we are moving to #3 so we need to get info on if anybody is looking to move to 2 so we know what to plan for. Also I am still fielding some offers for #3 so be ready for some moves and chaos today. We have done the work, you guys have done a great job. Now let me work for you today".

Cleveland Browns 2018 NFL Draft
Pick	Player	College	Pos	Ht	Wt
#3	Earnest Jenkins	Pittsburg	FS	5'11	197
#9	Dimitrios Nixon	Notre Dame	RB	5'11	211
#42	Bronson Kovacs	Duke	OLB	6'3	227
#57	Anthony Paul	USC	C	6'4	299
#72	Kobi Hegamin	Michigan St	LT	6'5	315
#93	Jordan Hahn	Southern Miss	RT	6'6	316
#123	George Chustz	Iowa State	OLB	5'11	245
#129	Harmon Maxey	Connecticut	WR	6'4	225
#150	Miles Lynn	Oregon St	RG	6'5	301
#177	Demarcus Mughelli	Lehigh	SS	6'0	220
#180	Vaughn Carter	Maryland	RT	6'6	339
#188	Ashley Lloyd	Tennessee	RB	6'1	221
#203	Jimmy Brandon	Ohio State	RB	6'1	208
#209	Morgan Terrell	UL-Lafayette	WR	6'2	205