Browns part ways with former Packers scouts Eliot Wolf, Alonzo Highsmith

The Cleveland Browns hired a new general manager Tuesday, and on Wednesday, the organization was moving on from front-office members with strong Green Bay Packers ties.

At the top of the list was assistant general manager Eliot Wolf, the son of former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, who was with the Packers' scouting team for 14 years before joining the Browns in early 2018. Wolf was one of the finalists for the Packers general manager job that ultimately went to Brian Gutekunst. 

Wolf's departure from the Browns was a mutual decision, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reported.

The Browns also announced they were not retaining Alonzo Highsmith, a senior personnel executive with the Packers from 2012-2017 before becoming vice president of player personnel with the Browns. Highsmith had worked for the Packers since joining the organization as a college scout in 1999.

Cleveland hired 32-year-old Andrew Berry, the former Philadelphia Eagles vice president of football operations, as the new general manager one day earlier. Berry had been in Cleveland as VP of player personnel for three seasons before joining the Eagles for one season, and now he's back with the Browns.

Berry takes the GM role vacated by John Dorsey, another former Packers player and scout, who was fired by the Browns after the 2019 season. Dorsey was with the Packers in a number of capacities throughout his career, as a player from 1984-89, then as a scout and ultimately the director of college scouting before his promotion to director of football operations in 2012. He left to become the Chiefs general manager in 2013 and jumped to the Browns in 2017. He brought both Wolf and Highsmith to the Cleveland organization.

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam indicated early in January that Wolf would not be promoted to GM and would remain in his assistant GM role. 

Meanwhile, a pair of former Packers assistant coaches are moving on from Cleveland. The Falcons hired former Browns defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. to be their secondary coach. Browns offensive line coach James Campen reportedly will not be retained by new head coach Kevin Stefanski. 

JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.