INDIANAPOLIS -- Hue Jackson admitted on Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine that waiting on Terrelle Pryor's free agency situation to play out will be an anxious time.

"It's free agency, so they get to make a choice and a decision, too," Jackson said. "Hopefully, he'll make the right one and stay here with us."

The Browns decided not to franchise Pryor by the deadline on Wednesday. A non-exclusive franchise tag would have carried with it a number of $15.682 million. Pryor would have been free to negotiate with other teams under that tag, but the cost of someone to sign him away would have been two first-round picks. The Browns also could have continued to negotiate with Pryor on a longterm deal.

Instead, Pryor is set to become an unrestricted free agent unless he and the Browns can come to an agreement in the next few days. Teams are permitted to begin negotiating with free agents on March 7 and can begin signing them at 4 p.m. on March 9.

Pryor, of course, is a unique case. Two seasons ago he couldn't find a job in the NFL after the Browns cut him during his transition from quarterback to wide receiver. He ended up back with the Browns at the end of 2015 and finally made his first catch in the season finale against Pittsburgh. He followed that up by catching 77 passes for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns, all in the midst of instability at the quarterback position and without much help from his fellow wide receivers.

"Obviously Terrelle was a huge piece of what we did a year ago," Jackson said. "Obviously we're working through that. And it has to work both ways for all involved -- for him, for us and hopefully it will."

Pryor, for his part, had expressed towards the end of the season that he would like to remain with Cleveland. Following offseason surgery to repair an injury to one of his fingers, Pryor said he was going to spend time rehabbing with the Browns training staff. Those are both good signs, but things can change once a player hits the open market, especially in a thin wide receiver free agent class.

Losing Pryor would deal a blow to a team that has, to this point, managed their offseason well, led by the re-signing of linebacker Jamie Collins. A key to any rebuild is not only drafting well, but developing young players and then keeping them when the time comes.

The good news is that the Browns still have time to get something done with their top wide receiver.

"Hopefully we can get that done soon," Jackson said.

The next week will serve to test the Browns strategy if Pryor is able to test the free agent market.

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