PIOLI

Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner confirmed yesterday that the Browns have received permission to talk to Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli about possibly hiring Pioli as Cleveland’s general manager.

When asked about the situation, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, “Whatever happens, there are league rules and policies for all those things. Whatever they are, we’ll comply with them. I am not going to talk about somebody else’s job or somebody else’s situation. We will comply with the rules, as they are, as we always do.”

Lerner fired Cleveland general manager Phil Savage on Sunday night.

Lerner was first interested in former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, but Cowher told Lerner over the weekend that he was not interested in the job.

Additionally, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is on the list of candidates that Lerner is considering for the Browns’ head coaching vacancy.

McDaniels was born in Ohio and attended McKinley High School in Canton, Ohio.

— Robert Lee