Pro Football Rumors
Longtime NFL executive Ryan Grigson has left Minnesota for Cleveland. The Browns have hired Grigson as a senior football advisor, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com relays.
Grigson has worked for several organizations since he started as a scout with the Rams in 1999. However, he is best known for his time as the Colts’ general manager from 2012-16. Grigson made the no-brainer decision to select quarterback Andrew Luck with the No. 1 overall pick in his first draft. Luck led the Colts to the playoffs in each of his first three seasons, but an inability to build a good enough roster around the franchise passer led to Grigson’s downfall. In the wake of back-to-back .500 campaigns, the Colts fired Grigson in January 2017.
A few months after Indianapolis parted with Grigson, he joined Cleveland’s front office as a senior personnel executive. Sashi Brown was the Browns’ GM at the time, but Grigson reported to then-vice president of player personnel Andrew Berry. Grigson and Berry, who is now the Browns’ GM, worked together in Indianapolis and formed a strong rapport. They were colleagues again from 2020-21, Grigson’s second stint with the Browns.
The fact that Grigson is beginning his third run with Cleveland is a surprise, as it appeared he would continue in Minnesota under new GM Nolan Teasley. As the Vikings’ senior VP of player personnel from 2022-24 and their assistant GM last season, Grigson was there for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah‘s entire tenure as their GM. The Vikings fired Adofo-Mensah after the season and replaced him with Teasley four months later. Had Grigson stuck around to work for Teasley, he would have taken on a different role. Turning the Vikings down enabled the 54-year-old to reunite with Berry.
