The Eric Mangini Hire Still Influencing the Chiefs' GM Search

via media.scout.com

We wrote yesterday about how the Cleveland Browns GM and coaching decisions are affecting the Kansas City Chiefs own search for a GM. Not much has changed since yesterday and it appears that Pioli and the Browns are, in my opinion, unlikely to come to an agreement.

Pioli's extensive demands- including hiring his own coach (likely a college coach)- seemed to have soured the Browns from the full court press they were running earlier this week to get Pioli.

Even though no breaking news has occurred, we do get a few tidbits of info out of Cleveland this morning about the Browns' preference for the right head coach over the right GM.

From today's Cleveland Plain Dealer:

The Browns are continuing their dialogue with Patriots Vice President Scott Pioli, but Pioli is weighing his options -- including staying in New England, a source close to the negotiations told The Plain Dealer.

Pioli is expected to interview with the Kansas City Chiefs sometime over the next couple of days. If he takes himself out of the running in Cleveland, the Browns will focus their attention on fired Jets coach Eric Mangini, a source said.

So same old story as yesterday pretty much except it appears now that the Browns will wait to hear from Scott Pioli about the GM job before moving forward with a head coach hire. Yesterday, it wasn't clear if they were definitely going forward with their own head coach hire. The reason this head coach hire is important is because Pioli will want to hire his own coach and likely would not work with Eric Mangini, who burned the Patriots in the spying scandal.

The Plain Dealer goes on to reveal a couple more details about the Browns and Pioli. It appears that if it comes down to one or the other, the Browns favor hiring Mangini over Pioli.

As reported Friday in The Plain Dealer, the Browns were weighing the pros and cons of their top two candidates -- Pioli and Mangini -- knowing they probably would have to make a choice between the two.

Their research showed that landing the right coach was more imperative than finding the right general manager, a source said.

Ah, good for the Chiefs, no? Browns' fans prefer hiring Pioli to Mangini.

The paper also mentions that Scott Pioli was hesitant about the Browns job from the beginning and for good reason.

A source close to Pioli said he headed into the Browns interview with serious reservations about the job. Multiple league sources have pointed to the fact the Browns have squandered many draft picks over the past few years - including their third-, fifth- and seventh-round picks in 2009.

The paper also mentions the Browns' salary cap issues, which is the opposite of the Chiefs' problem with the cap- we're $30 million under the cap.

So, the Browns favor Eric Mangini over Scott Pioli's extensive demands and many of the issues that made Pioli hesitant about Cleveland don't exist in Kansas City. Similar story to yesterday, with a new wrinkle or two.

How is Kansas City not far and away the best option for a GM right now?