Turns Out Terrell Pryor Signed with Washington Because the Browns Botched Negotiations

Cleveland Browns coach Hue Jackson wanted to keep Terrell Pryor. Terrell Pryor wanted to stay in Cleveland. So why the hell is Pryor now in Washington?

Well, you’re never going to believe this, but it would seem the Browns botched negotiations!

Pryor had a pretty damn good first season as a wide receiver in 2016. The former quarterback recorded 77 receptions for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns, despite having to work with six different quarterbacks. (Yes, six. Remember, this is the Browns we’re talking about.)

What Pryor and agents Drew and Jason Rosenhaus wanted was to sign another one-year deal with Cleveland, have another good year, then sign a lucrative multi-year deal in 2018. What the Browns offered was a four-year, $32 million deal.

Pryor and his agents didn’t want to be locked into $8 million per year because they believed he could earn elite receiver money with another excellent season. So they shopped around. Eventually Washington came along and offered him $8 million for one year—a $3 million signing bonus, a $3 million salary, and up to $2 million worth of bonuses.

That’s the same annual value as the Cleveland deal, but Pryor would then be free to seek a raise in 2018.

At first Cleveland.com said “league sources” indicated that Pryor did not give the Browns a chance to beat Washington’s offer. But it turns out that was not true. On Sunday Cleveland.com said another source “close to the situation” said Pryor did give the Browns a chance to beat the Washington offer. However, they responded by lowering their offer.

In short, the Browns—a team that has so much cap space that they used $16 million of it on a quarterback they didn’t even want—could have kept their best receiver with a one-year $9 million deal. Buy they just didn’t feel like it.

Classic Browns.

Hat Tip – [Cleveland.com]

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