Browns To Hire Trent Baalke

Trent Baalke was out of the NFL during the 2025 season, but he has lined up his next gig. The veteran executive is being hired by the Browns, Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reports.

Zenitz notes Baalke will be joining Cleveland in a “consultant-like capacity.” This is not the first time the Browns have enlisted a former general manager to join their front office in 2026. Tom Telesco assisted the team during last week’s draft, as noted by Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.

It remains to be seen if Telesco will stay in place now that the draft is finished. In any case, Baalke will be among the executives joining new teams late in the offseason. The former 49ers and Jaguars GM saw his Jacksonville tenure end under bizarre circumstances during last year’s hiring cycle. Baalke appeared at first to be safe even with head coach Doug Pederson being dismissed, but things changed in short order.

Liam Coen was originally in position to remain the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator, with his second Jaguars HC interview being canceled. Baalke’s presence was a major factor in his hesitancy to join Jacksonville, with Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn sharing the same sentiment. In the end, though, Coen did wind up being hired by the Jags on a lucrative deal which also essentially provided him with the opportunity to pick the team’s new general manager.

After Baalke was officially fired, there was an understandable lack of interest on the part of other teams. The longtime staffer did not end his 49ers tenure on the best of terms, and Jacksonville went 25-43 on his watch. Baalke, 62, had been in place with the Jags since 2020 when his time there came to an end. Coen and new GM James Gladstone helped lead Jacksonville to a division title in 2025.

Second opportunities to serve as a general manager are rare in the NFL, and a third should not be expected in Baalke’s case. Still, he will offer the Browns with a highly experienced voice in their front office. Andrew Berry has been in place since 2020, and he survived the firing of head coach Kevin Stefanski. Cleveland has gone 45-56 under Berry, who will hope to deliver a high-impact rookie class for the second year in a row in 2026. His efforts on that front will include input from Baalke.