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Paul DePodesta leaving the Mets...for the NFL? Seriously?

Paul DePodesta is leaving the front office of the New York Mets to run the Cleveland Browns, per Joel Sherman

There are two DePodesta photos in the photo database.
There are two DePodesta photos in the photo database.
Jeff Gross/Getty Images

Paul DePodesta, former Oakland A's front office member portrayed by Jonah Hill in Moneyball, former Los Angeles Dodgers general manager, and current New York Mets Vice President of Player Development and Scouting, is leaving the Mets to "run the NFL Cleveland Browns as executive VP," according to Joel Sherman on Twitter.

This is, as the young folks would say, "cray cray."  DePodesta, 43, is a Harvard graduate who got his start with the Cleveland Indians under John Hart before joining the A's front office.  He's been seen as one of those on the forefront of the analytics movement, something that resulted in him being the target for abuse by some Los Angeles columnists while he was with the Dodgers.

As far as I know, he has no football background or experience.  The notion of someone switching from an executive role in one sport to another isn't completely unprecedented, and there's been talk before about Billy Beane's interest in professional soccer making him a candidate to one day run a soccer team.  But going from a baseball front office to having absolute power in an NFL front office when you have no background in pro football is, I think, unprecedented.