Tuesday, May 14, 2002

ProFootballWeekly.com asks personnel expert Joel Buchsbaum for his thoughts on the hottest topics in football. 

Clark was already obsolete in Cleveland

Dwight Clark resigned as the Browns’ vice president of football operations Monday, but ever since the club hired head coach Butch Davis in January 2001, Clark has had little to no control in his own department. Davis, who prides himself on personnel decision-making, asked for and received such control at the time of his hire. Now, Clark is likely to pursue a position in San Francisco where he could fill a lesser role under Bill Walsh.

Buchsbaum: Dwight Clark’s resignation really doesn’t affect the Browns’ organization at all. Ever since Butch Davis walked in with almost complete control over personnel, Clark was just a title sitting in the front office with almost no power. Clark was Carmen Policy’s right-hand man in San Francisco and the first couple of years in Cleveland, but once Davis came in, he demanded and received complete control. Clark’s drafting record in San Francisco and his free agency record was semi-good, semi-bad. In Cleveland, he didn’t do well in either area. That in part is why the team stunk and Davis got the job. It will be interesting to see where he goes now. Clark has always been linked to either Policy or the 49ers.

Benson making interesting moves

Saints owner Tom Benson fired general manager Randy Mueller Sunday because their philosophies apparently didn’t mesh. Even though Mueller helped the Saints win 17 games and their first-ever playoff game in his two seasons on the job, Benson let him go, some think because he didn’t want to pay the piper. To complete the chain of events, Benson has hired Mueller’s good friend and assistant, Mickey Loomis, to take over for Mueller.

Buchsbaum: It is very interesting what owner Tom Benson is doing in New Orleans. First, he fires head of football operations Randy Mueller. Then, he promotes one of Mueller’s two best friends, Mickey Loomis, to the position. He also retained Mueller’s brother as director of player personnel. So really, the two most important people in the organization are still people who were part of Mueller’s inner circle. Though Benson has offered head coach Jim Haslett a new contract that doubles his current salary at approximately $1.8 million per year, Haslett still has not signed the contract or talked much about it.

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