Browns 'Moneyball' exec leaves for Rockies after 10 years in Cleveland

The Cleveland Browns are coming out of their Week 9 bye and the NFL trade deadline. While there was only one trade, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka to the Chicago Bears, the biggest change for Cleveland came in the front office.

Paul DePodesta, the Browns' chief strategy officer, has been with the team for 10 years. After those 10 seasons, the former MLB executive best known for his relation to the "Moneyball" Athletics is returning to baseball.

According to Ken Rosenthal, Zac Jackson, and Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic, DePodesta is leaving his executive role with the Browns to join the Colorado Rockies as their head of baseball operations.

Browns lose 'Moneyball' executive to Rockies

"In a stunning career shift, Paul DePodesta soon will leave the Cleveland Browns to become the Colorado Rockies' head of baseball operations, according to sources briefed on the move." Rosenthal, Jackson, and Ghiroli write.

DePodesta was depicted by actor Jonah Hill in the movie "Moneyball" for his role with the Athletics. But after joining the Browns in 2016, his time in the limelight died down.

But now, after a decade in the NFL, the longtime sports executive is returning to the Major Leagues and will take center stage as the leader of the Rockies rebuild.

In the time since DePodesta joined the Browns, Cleveland is 56-99-1. The Rockies are coming off a rough 43-119 season.

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Coming out of the Browns' Week 9 bye, they've seen their 10-year executive depart. DePodesta returns to the Majors for the first time in over a decade, as he'll try to rebuild the Rockies.

This new role will be one of the biggest for the longtime executive in his sports career. DePodesta found some success in Cleveland at the start, but after the disastrous Deshaun Watson trade, things unraveled for the Browns.

Now in a new, larger role with the Rockies, DePodesta will try to bring another struggling organization back to the playoffs, just like he was able to help accomplish with the Browns in 2020.

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