Cleveland Browns tap former Jaguars and 49ers GM Trent Baalke as a consultant, continuing Andrew Berry’s strategic trend of leveraging veteran executive experience to fortify the front office.
The Cleveland Browns are reportedly adding some new perspective inside their front office.
According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Cleveland is bringing in longtime NFL executive Trent Baalke to serve as a consultant to general manager Andrew Berry and the front office staff.
Baalke most recently served as the general manager for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2021-2024, before the team parted ways with him last offseason to ensure they'd land Liam Coen for their head coach vacancy.
Prior to his time in Jacksonville, Baalke also worked as GM for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-2016.
This is hardly the first time Berry and the Browns have brought in outside executives to serve as consultants in some capacity.
Most recently, former Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders GM Tom Telesco joined Berry in a similar role earlier this offseason, assisting with the team's head coach search, which concluded with hiring of Todd Monken.
Telesco was the first person to hire Berry to an NFL role while serving as the Director of Player Personnel with the Indianapolis Colts in 2009, proving just how valuable relationships are in the NFL.
Back in 2021, Berry hired ex-Detroit Lions GM Bob Quinn to serve as a senior consultant, which turned into a full-time role on the Browns staff as a senior personnel/coaching executive from 2022-2025. Quinn followed Kevin Stefanski to Atlanta where he is serving as a senior advisor to the head coach.
Similarly, Ryan Grigson, who is a finalist for the Minnesota Vikings vacant GM job, joined Berry's staff as a senior football advisor from 2020-2021. Grigson wound up serving under recently fired Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who left the Browns front office in 2022. His roles under Adofo-Mensah have included senior vice president of player personnel and an assistant GM.
Ultimately, bringing on Baalke falls a similar pattern for Berry to tap into the expertise of some of his colleagues to help build his own team. Berry is coming off of a very productive offseason, including what many regard as a very successful 2026 NFL Draft last weekend.
It's unclear at this stage what exactly Baalke's role with the Browns will entail, but Berry wanted another perspective in the building, while Baalke tries to get back into football following a year hiatus.
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