Catherine Raîche will join Cleveland Browns for high-ranking role in front office
Philadelphia Eagles vice president of football operations Catherine Raîche will join the Cleveland Browns for a high-ranking position in their front office, a person familiar with the situation told Paste BN Sports' Jori Epstein on Tuesday.
Nearly a year ago, the Eagles promoted Raîche to the most senior-ranking team personnel position a woman has held in NFL history.
The VP of football operations title Raîche holds is the same one Browns general manager Andrew Berry had with the Eagles in 2019.
Raîche and Berry worked together then. Berry has mentored Raîche and pursued hiring her in the past, a source told Epstein.
The Browns had an opening created in their front office earlier this offseason when Kwesi Adofo-Mensah left Cleveland to become the GM of the Minnesota Vikings. Adofo-Mensah spent the past two seasons as the Browns' VP of football operations, but he essentially handled the duties of an assistant GM. Raîche's role is expected to be similar.
Raîche has another connection to Adofo-Mensah because she interviewed for the GM job he landed in Minnesota in late January.
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Like Raîche, Browns chief of staff/assistant wide receivers coach Callie Brownson is a trailblazer. In 2020, Brownson became the first woman to guide an NFL position group in a game when she served as the team's acting tight ends coach in a Week 12 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars
Last year, Raîche spoke with Paste BN Sports about women increasingly securing jobs on the football side of NFL franchises.
“If you’re a student of the game, you’re a student of the game — regardless of who you are. And that’s who I am,” said Raîche, a Montreal native. “For the longest time, I feel like we’ve picked out of 50% of the pool … but if you open the pool to 100%, you may get really, really qualified candidates.
“I hope we get more and more and more — and not just get them in, but also help them grow."
Before spending the past three seasons with the Eagles, including two as a football operations/player personnel coordinator, Raîche had been an assistant GM with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes (2017), where she also served as coordinator of football administration (2015-17). She was a director of football administration for the CFL's Toronto Argonauts (2018-19) as well.
The Browns hiring Raîche will likely become official next week. Other members of their front office could receive promotions, too.
VP of player personnel Glenn Cook is an executive to watch along those lines.
In March, Berry said he expects Cook to become a GM. Cook interviewed for the GM jobs of the Vikings and Chicago Bears earlier this offseason. The Vikings hired Adofo-Mensah, and the Bears hired Ryan Poles.
The Browns' recent pursuit of Raîche was first reported by TheLandOnDemand.com.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com.