OBJ Back To Full Strength Ahead Of Camp
Odell Beckham Jr. will be good to go when the Browns convene for training camp. Kevin Stefanski confirmed the three-time Pro Bowl wideout has 100% recovered from the core muscle surgery he underwent earlier this offseason, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com notes. Beckham battled this problem for much of last season, often not being able to practice until Fridays, while also navigating a hip injury. While the star receiver suited up for 16 games — after failing to do so in three of his five Giants seasons — OBJ did not develop much of a rapport with Baker Mayfield. In Year 2 with the Browns, Beckham attended the team’s virtual offseason meetings. He skipped much of Cleveland’s onsite OTAs last year.
Browns’ Kareem Hunt Hoping For Extension
Browns running back Kareem Hunt feels “lucky” and “blessed” to have the chance to play for the Browns, despite his off-the-field history. At the same time, he’d like to receive an extension from the team (via Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer). 
[RELATED; Browns Exec Says COVID-19 May Impact Spending]
“No question,‘’ Hunt said. “I’d definitely like to be a part of something like this. Everybody is here that I care about. I know everybody in the whole town. I would not mind playing for the Browns for a long time.”
The Browns gave Hunt a second NFL chance in 2018, despite disturbing video of him striking a woman at a Cleveland hotel. In that same year, he also got into a physical altercation with a man in Ohio. On the field, he delivered a 4.2 yards-per-carry average. Off the field, this past January, he was cited for marijuana possession.
The new regime in Cleveland opted to stick with him, though they let him know that he has to do better.
“Just pretty much [they’ve said] ‘I can’t have that. It’s not acceptable,‘’’ Hunt said. “I’ve got to be smarter and cannot be doing stuff like that. We had a good talk. They see me on the field as a guy who is going to make some plays this year and help the team win. That’s what I have been looking forward to. We have been talking. I keep in touch with coach all the time about what he wants to see and stuff like that.”
Hunt is slated to be a free agent after earning $3.26MM in base pay this year. The Browns probably aren’t in a rush to commit additional dollars and years to him.
Browns Exec: COVID-19 May Impact Spending
Throughout the offseason, the pandemic has held up contract signings for this year’s rookies as well as extensions. As the uncertainty continues, vice president of player personnel Glenn Cook admits that the Browns’ plans have “somewhat” changed their approach (via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com).
[RELATED: Clowney’s Best Multi-Year Offer Came From Browns]
“All of that goes into play when we’re talking about any of these moves that we’re looking to make, whether it’s extensions, signing free agents, possibly trades or even going into 2021 and 2022,” Cook said. “It does somewhat change what our overall plan is and we actually initially did have some conversations around that just in terms of team planning — not specific to Myles [Garrett] — and just what that looks like given what COVID was saying in February, March or going into the next year. Yes, you do think about that with all the moves we make and all the decisions that may come into play now and into the season.”
The Browns’ intention to keep Garrett for the long haul hasn’t changed, but it sounds like the Browns’ may think long and hard about the payout structure for all of their forthcoming deals. Meanwhile, they’ve got nearly $40MM in cap space to work with this year. A truly conservative approach could see Cleveland hold on to some of those dollars and roll them into 2021, when things will hopefully be more stable.
Meanwhile, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap (Twitter link) estimates that only a handful of teams prepared for a labor stoppage this year and wonders how many owners are instructing their GMs to halt spending, rather than planning proactively.
Jadeveon Clowney’s Best Multi-Year Offer Came From Browns
The Browns’ offer wasn’t good enough for Jadeveon Clowney, but it’s the best multi-year opportunity he’s gotten, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. The Browns’ proposal was previously estimated to be somewhere in the range of $12MM/year. 
[RELATED: Browns Willing To Increase Offer To Jadeveon Clowney?]
Earlier this week, we heard that the Browns would be willing to move their offer up to somewhere around $15MM/year. It’s not clear whether they’d be open to giving him that kind of money over multiple seasons or just for 2020, however.
The Browns have nearly $40MM in cap space, plenty of cash for summer upgrades. Besides, any deal for Clowney worth $15MM or less could be offset by the release of Olivier Vernon, who is due $15.25MM in non-guaranteed cash this year.
Clowney could effectively come as a package with a Myles Garrett extension. Both defensive ends are represented by Bus Cook, who is presently working to make Garrett the highest-paid DE in league history.
The Seahawks haven’t ruled out a reunion with Clowney either, but they’re limited by their cap situation. With just ~$14MM in spare room, they’ll have to get creative – and convincing – to bring the former No. 1 overall pick back to Seattle. For what it’s worth, they offered Clowney a ~$15MM deal earlier in the offseason, before they allocated most of their money elsewhere.
Browns Willing To Increase Offer To Jadeveon Clowney?
The Browns continue to put in work on the Jadeveon Clowney front. In addition to the team talking with Clowney’s agent — amid Myles Garrett extension talks, with Bus Cook representing both players — it appears the Browns would be willing to increase their offer.
Cleveland’s previous offer to Clowney came in around the $12MM-per-year range. The Browns would sign off on paying the former No. 1 overall pick in the $15MM neighborhood on a one-year deal, Albert Breer of SI.com notes.
Clowney is believed to have received an offer around $15MM AAV from the Seahawks. The three-time Pro Bowl pass rusher dropped his asking price from around $20MM per year to the $17-$18MM-AAV range early in free agency but has remained on the market for several weeks since.
As of Monday, the Browns hold an NFL-most $37MM in cap space — well north of the Seahawks’ $13.9MM — and could outmuscle the Hawks for Clowney if they chose to. The Browns have been connected to Clowney for over two months. Should the Browns land Clowney, they would likely create more cap space by parting ways with Olivier Vernon. The latter is set to earn a Browns-most $15.25MM in 2020 base salary, which is currently non-guaranteed.
While a $15MM payment would be almost a middle-class edge rusher deal this year, with 17 edge defenders earning that on average, a one-year deal would allow Clowney a chance to re-enter the market at 28 during what could well be a more normal 2021 offseason.
Latest On Browns, Jadeveon Clowney
Jadeveon Clowney wasn’t interested in Cleveland’s last contract offer, but the Browns haven’t given up on signing the former No. 1 overall pick, as Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer writes. They’re already in contact with Clowney’s agent Bus Cook as they negotiate an extension for Myles Garrett, which could help to facilitate a deal. 
[RELATED: Browns Offered Jadeveon Clowney $12MM/Year?]
The Browns’ offer was believed to be somewhere in the $12MM range, a far cry from the $20MM Clowney was said to be seeking when free agency opened. At some point in March, Clowney scaled back his expectations to $17-$18MM per year, but no one was willing to get into that territory. His highest reported offer came from the Seahawks, who pitched him on a one-year, $15MM pact to return. The Seahawks are also keeping the door open – at least slightly – but that deal is not believed to be on the table at present.
Between Garrett and Olivier Vernon, the Browns are pretty well set at defensive end. Still, Clowney could offer greater upside than Vernon, who finished out with just 3.5 sacks in his first year with Cleveland. Vernon is currently set to earn $15.25MM in 2020, but his salary is completely non-guaranteed. If the Browns keep him, it’s likely that they’ll ask him to adjust his invoice. The Browns could also easily shed him and replace him with Clowney, who notched 24.5 sacks and three Pro Bowl trips between 2016 and 2018.
In the interest of equal time – Clowney didn’t offer much in the way of sacks last year, either. Clowney had just three with Seattle, his lowest showing of any healthy season.
Latest On Titans’, Browns’ Pursuit Of Jadeveon Clowney
Nothing like another Jadeveon Clowney story to ring in the weekend. The former No. 1 overall pick remains unsigned, with the Titans, Browns, and — perhaps to a lesser extent — Seahawks representing the most likely landing spots.
The Titans have reportedly made multiple offers to Clowney, but obviously those offers were unappealing to a player who was said to be seeking a lucrative multi-year pact worth around $20MM per year when the offseason began. Tennessee GM Jon Robinson had previously acknowledged that he discussed a contract with Clowney’s camp, but there have been no talks between the two sides for awhile.
In a conference call with reporters yesterday, Robinson said, “No conversations of recent. I think we’re going to continue to monitor it and see where [it goes]. I’ve seen what you guys have seen that’s been posted on social media. I know he wants to play. I think we would be a pretty good fit for him, and there was some mutual interest there when we started the discussion, but I would say that really hasn’t grown any legs since we spoke last” (h/t Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk).
The Titans have always looked like a good fit given the presence of head coach Mike Vrabel — the Texans’ LB coach and defensive coordinator during Clowney’s first four years in Houston — and given the club’s need for another pass rusher. The team did take a flier on Vic Beasley and will return Harold Landry, who posted nine sacks in a promising sophomore effort in 2019, but Clowney could provide a major boost to the Titans’ defensive front.
As for the Browns, we last heard that they recently floated an offer that would have paid Clowney $12MM/year in base salary, but in the story linked above, Williams cites a report indicating that Cleveland has also put forth a one-year, $18MM proposal. It’s unclear if that’s accurate or a typo, as Williams may simply have intended to reference the $12MM/year report. If Cleveland really did offer one year at $18MM, roughly the amount that Clowney would have made if Seattle had been willing and able to use the franchise tag, he should probably snap it up.
For his part, though, Clowney has said he is willing to be patient and does not feel rushed to sign before teams have the opportunity to look at him in person and evaluate his medicals. Given the gradual return to normalcy throughout the country, that may happen sooner rather than later.
Browns, Myles Garrett Begin Contract Talks
Contract talks are underway between the Browns and Myles Garrett, sources tell Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Browns don’t necessarily have to rush things since Garrett still has two years left on his rookie deal. However, if they’re able to lock up Garrett this summer, they could save a couple of dollars and avoid an even larger spike in the edge rusher market next year. 
[RELATED: Browns Offered Jadeveon Clowney $12MM/Year?]
Even though it was a trying season for the Browns, the former No. 1 overall pick was phenomenal last year – ten games, ten sacks. Of course, he didn’t get a chance to top his previous watermark of 13.5 sacks from the year prior. Garrett was banned from the field for his role in the ugly brawl against the Steelers, capping his season in the fall and his career sack total at 30.5 sacks, for the time being.
Now reinstated, Garrett is in position to dominate once again. And, at the moment, Garrett’s value might be somewhat depressed by the time he’s missed throughout his career. Between the delayed start to his rookie year and last year’s suspension, Garrett has appeared in just 37 regular season games over the past three years.
Still, Garrett is poised to become the league’s new financial kingpin at defensive end. Currently, Khalil Mack leads the way with an average fo $23.5MM per year, with DeMarcus Lawrence of the Cowboys ($21MM/year) and Frank Clark of the Chiefs ($20.8MM/year) closely trailing. Meanwhile, the Browns will also have to leave enough room to take care of other stars down the road, including quarterback Baker Mayfield, cornerback Denzel Ward, and running back Nick Chubb. Fortunately, they have plenty of cap space to work with right now. And, even if they allocate some of those dollars towards Jadeveon Clowney, they can offset the expense by shedding Olivier Vernon‘s non-guaranteed salary.
Browns Notes: Kaepernick, OBJ, LB
In an interview with WKNR AM-850, Hue Jackson said that he wanted the Browns to sign Colin Kaepernick in 2017 (via Jeff Schudel of the News Herald). The Browns, of course, did not sign him, and placed rookie Deshone Kizer under center instead.
“I wanted him,” Jackson said Friday. “It just didn’t work out. Obviously, those things do have to work from a finance, draft, whatever all that is. And that wasn’t my decision.”
Jackson may have wanted Kaepernick in 2017, but he didn’t share that opinion publicly at the time. Like most coaches, Jackson skirted questions about the QB and said that he wasn’t being discussed as a serious option. Meanwhile, Jackson didn’t have full control over the 53-man roster. Personnel decisions were ultimately made by Sashi Brown, who served as the Browns’ GM up until December of that year.
Last month, Kaepernick found himself back in the NFL news cycle when the league briefly listed him as “retired” on his remodeled player page. The following day, the NFL changed his status to reflect that he is, in fact, an unrestricted free agent. The odds of Kaepernick returning to the NFL seemed slim just a few weeks ago, but it may not be so far fetched today. Kaepernick, 33 in November, has been training with the intent of returning to the field.
“My desire to play football is still there,” Kaepernick said in February. “I still train five days a week. I’m ready to go, I’m ready for a phone call, tryout, workout at any point in time. I’m still waiting on the owners and their partners to stop running from this situation. So I hope I get a call this offseason. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Here’s more out of Cleveland:
- Odell Beckham Jr. skipped the bulk of the Browns’ non-virtual 2019 offseason, but he’s been logging on for team activities via Zoom this year, as Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com writes. “He’s all in,’’ offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said. “He’s bought in. He’s been there and it’s awesome. It’s good to have him there. It’s good for him.’’ Despite the constant speculation about OBJ’s status with the team, the Browns have maintained that he will be in their plans. Meanwhile, the wide receiver seems to be pretty happy with the Browns’ new regime.
- The Browns beefed up their defensive line depth this offseason, but linebacker remains a question mark, ESPN.com’s Jake Trotter writes. With Christian Kirksey and Joe Schobert out of the picture, the Browns will be relying upon a promising, yet inexperienced group that includes rookie Jacob Phillips, Sione Takitaki, and Mack Wilson. Of course, the Browns aren’t necessarily done upgrading the front seven as they continue to monitor Jadeveon Clowney‘s market.
- Earlier this week, we reflected on Mychal Kendricks‘ brief and bizarre tenure with the Browns.
This Date In Transactions History: Browns Sign Mychal Kendricks
Two years ago today, Mychal Kendricks agreed to terms with the Browns. At the time, the one-year, $2.25MM deal looked like a solid value pickup for the Browns in the second wave of free agency. Instead, the linebacker never played a down for Cleveland. 
What we didn’t know at the time was that Kendricks was involved in a federal investigation for insider trading. Kendricks were aware of the situation, but they say they weren’t clued in on all of the details. Prosecutors alleged that Kendricks and his co-defendant turned $80K in a brokerage account into $1.2MM inside of five months. The insider trading charges he faced could have imprisoned him for up to 37 months, keeping him off the field for at least three years.
When Kendricks’ charges were announced just before the start of the 2018 season, the Browns dropped him. Days later, on Sept. 6, he pleaded guilty in court. Then, just one week after that, Kendricks inked a one-year deal with the Seahawks. Kendricks still had sentencing and a lengthy NFL suspension ahead of him, but Pete Carroll & Co. didn’t want to pass up the chance to sign him at a bargain basement minimum-salaried rate.
Despite the off-the-field issues, Kendricks offered up an impressive resume from his time in Philly, including 74 career starts, 14 sacks, and a 77-tackle campaign in 2017 en route to a Super Bowl ring. Kendricks spent most of 2018 sidelined as he duked it out with the league office, but he returned to form in 2019 as he started in all 14 of his games, tallied 71 stops, and notched three sacks.
Now, Kendricks finds himself in NFL and legal limbo once again. Kendricks was originally set for sentencing on January 23, 2019, but thanks to multiple postponements and the COVID-19 pandemic, Kendricks won’t face the judge until May 29, at the earliest. And, after suffering an ACL tear in January, the Seahawks found linebacker help elsewhere. Depending on how things go from here, Kendricks may eventually find a market for his services as a free agent. Still, it might be a while before we see him back in the fold.