Former Lions general manager Bob Quinn has been promoted by the Browns

The Cleveland Browns announced a lengthy list of front office changes Thursday, with a promotion for former Lions general manager Bob Quinn.

Bob Quinn was the Detroit Lions general manager for not quite five full seasons (2016-2020). In concert with Matt Patricia, he torn a team that went 9-7 in back-to-back seasons (including a playoff berth in 2016) down to a 3-12-1 shell in 2019. Quinn and Patricia were fired before 2020’s 5-11 campaign was completed.

Quinn spent last season serving as a Senior Consultant for the Cleveland Browns. The Browns announced a long list of changes to their football operations staff on Thursday, with new hires and promotions. Jimmy Raye and Catherine Raiche are the most notable new hires with recognizable names.

Quinn was among those promoted. Per the Browns’ announcement, the former Lions’ general manager’s new title is Senior Personnel/Coaching Executive.

"Senior Personnel/Coaching Executive: Quinn has been hired into a role that will service both the coaching and personnel staff after serving as a Senior Consultant last season. Prior to his time in Cleveland, Quinn was the GM for the Detroit Lions after serving in a variety of capacities for the New England Patriots from 2000-2015."

Former Lions’ GM Bob Quinn gets more defined role in Browns’ organization

What exactly Quinn did as a senior consultant for the Browns last year isn’t clear. But he has a more defined job now, and based on the team’s wording it seems his new role will have some priority toward the coaching staff.

Lions’ fans are surely laughing at the notion Quinn will be entrusted with anything regarding helping the Browns’ coaching staff.

This is the guy who inherited Jim Caldwell as the Lions’ head coach, watched him lead the franchise to its most recent playoff berth followed by a second straight winning season. And still, as seemed inevitable when he was hired as Lions’ general manager whether it made sense or not, he fired Caldwell and hired “his guy” with shared Patriots’ roots in Patricia.

Counting the entire 2020 season, the Lions went 32-47-1 during Quinn’s tenure as general manager. After an 18-14 start, that means they went 14-33-1 over his last three seasons. Current general manager Brad Holmes is building something from those ashes, so Lions’ fans can take solace in that even as they’d prefer to forget about Quinn’s tenure entirely.