Sashi Brown leaves NBA’s Washington Wizards to be president of NFL’s Baltimore Ravens

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Sashi Brown is leaving Monumental Sports activities and the NBA’s Washington Wizards to return to the NFL as president of the Baltimore Ravens, it was introduced Friday.

Brown, 45, turns into the third president in Ravens historical past and replaces Dick Cass, who turned 76 final month and is retiring after serving in that function for 18 years.

Brown is anticipated to hitch the Ravens in March and he’ll formally take over as workforce president on April 1. The Ravens mentioned he’ll “oversee each space of the group,” together with participant and employees personnel, teaching, company gross sales, operations, communications and enterprise ventures.

After spending 12 years within the NFL, Brown has labored the previous two years for Monumental Sports activities and the Wizards. He had been promoted to president and particular adviser to chairman Ted Leonsis in November.

The Ravens’ hiring of Brown, who’s Black, comes amid elevated scrutiny of NFL variety hiring practices following a lawsuit by former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores earlier this week through which he claims alleged racial discrimination concerning his interview course of.

Brown returns to the NFL and the AFC North for the primary time because the Cleveland Browns fired him as their government vice chairman of soccer operations throughout the 2017 season. The Browns struggled to a 1-27 document with Brown accountable for personnel and Hue Jackson as coach, however the workforce stockpiled picks for future drafts and created extra salary-cap area than any workforce within the league.

Jackson informed ESPN on Wednesday that the Browns had a “four-year plan” that incentivized losing throughout that interval. A day later, Browns proprietor Jimmy Haslam fired again, saying the declare that Jackson was paid to lose video games is “an absolute falsehood.”

Earlier than becoming a member of Cleveland, Brown spent eight years (2005 to 2012) as senior vice chairman and normal counsel of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was concerned in each soccer and enterprise operations.

In 2019, Brown was employed as chief planning and operations officer for Monumental Basketball — a bunch that features the Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and the Capital Metropolis Go-Go of the G League.

Brown takes over for Cass, a beloved determine within the group who’s the longest-serving president in Ravens historical past. Cass was employed in 2004, changing into Steve Bisciotti’s first rent as new proprietor of the Ravens. Over that point, he had a voice in almost each main determination within the group, from enterprise ventures to social justice reform to stadium enhancements to guiding the committee that employed coach John Harbaugh.

Now, the highest management trio below Bisciotti is Brown, Harbaugh and normal supervisor Eric DeCosta.