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Browns center Alex Mack has been a reliable fulcrum in the offensive line during his four-year career in Cleveland.

(Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- On Friday afternoon, Browns center Alex Mack had no idea if he'd be flying south or turning the key in his Cleveland area front door again.

And now that he's headed back home, he couldn't be happier.

"It's been a long, hard road, but I'm here and I'm happy,'' Mack told cleveland.com in an exclusive phone interview Saturday. "I'm excited. I'm fired up. There's no bad blood. Now that it's done, I'm happy.''

Mack remained the property of the Browns for at least two years Friday when the club quickly matched the five-year, $42 milliom offer sheet from the Jaguars. The deal, which averages $8.4 million a year, makes Mack the highest paid center in the NFL and gives him the opportunity to become a free agent after two years.

The deal includes $26 million guaranteed overall, and $18 million over the first two seasons, after which Mack can void the deal and hit the market. If he sticks around for a third year, he'll make another $8 million guaranteed in 2016 and then have a chance to make $8 million in the final two seasons.

The Browns also can't trade him up until the start of 2017 and can't franchise or transition him after 2015 because of the timing of the opt-out clause.

"It really gave me a lot of options as a player which is something that's not typical, but I'm happy both ways (if it's a two-year deal or longer),'' he said. "I got a long-term deal, and we got a nice good contract that both sides are happy with. I'm excited (about being the highest paid center) and what can I promise is that I'll try my hardest day in and day out and I'll be the same person.''

Mack, 27, denied national reports that he badly wanted out of Cleveland.

"I don't believe I ever said that,'' he said "Seeing the options and trying to test free agency and see what else was out there was something that we wanted to do and we had a small opportunity to kind of get a little bit of that.''

But did he want out?

"No,'' he said. "Contracts are tough. It's the business side of things and as a player my job is to play football, something I'm good at. I have agents (Marvin Demoff and Tim Younger) to do the business side of things, and it's not always easy, but I'm happy with where I'm at.''

What will it take for him to stay after the first two seasons of the deal, during which he'll average $9 million a year.

"I'm 100% dedicated to working my absolute hardest to win games and that's what everyone wants,'' he said. "That's what I'd like to see, but that's two years from now.''

Mack, who received the transition tag at the start of free agency, said he remained hopeful throughout the ordeal that he could remain a Brown and receive fair market value.

"Yes, It's a process,'' he said. "All last season, a couple of times we'd go up and have successful talks and the No. 1 thing was to not being distracting. I wanted to devote my time to football.''

He said he harbors no ill-will toward the previous regime for failing to get the deal done before or during last season.

"Last year wasn't bad by any mean,'' he said. "Everything was handled very well and I'm 100% content. That's just the business side of things. It's tough. It's a battle and that's just what it is. In terms of my opinion, no. I'm good, I'm happy to be in Cleveland, let's move forward, let's go work hard and win games.''

He said he knows he might have to win back some of the fans, but he knows just how he'll do it.

"I'm going to be the same guy,'' he said. "I have a good attitude and I'm going to go all out for my team, that I can promise. I'm going to do my very best and that's as much as I can offer and I think that's what everyone wants to see. I like the city of Cleveland. I have a house there. I have friends. I've never had anything wrong with it.''

Does he expect to hear boos his first time out at FirstEnergy Field?

"I haven't actually thought about that,'' he said. "Hopefully not. But if that's what they want to do, I will still try my hardest.''

He acknowledgd that the constant upheaval here took its toll, but that he's optimistic about the future.

"When things change, it's a little different, but when the Brown came out and visited me here in California, they presented a really good front, a new coach, new GM, all of that,'' he said. "It's exciting to think about, because I know we have good player. Getting to know the coaches a little bit, you get excited about that. I'm excited to think about where the offense is going and what's in store this season.''

He also developed a newfound respect for owner Jimmy Haslam during that meeting in California.

"Mr. Haslam took a lot of heat firing the coach after one year and cleaning the building out, but it shows a lot of drive which is really respectful in my book,'' said Mack. "He took a lot of personal attack on that but he did that because he knew what he wanted and that was the sunny side of looking at the same thing.''

He acknowledged that he would've been happy to go to Jacksonville had the Browns not matched.

"I owe a great thanks to Jacksonville,'' he said. "They're a first-class organization. I can't speak highly enough of them. I was close to being there, and I was comfortable with either way that contract went. I must say I went out there with some expectations and they did a real good job of improving those, so they have good things going and I wish them the best -- except one game next year.''

He said he wasn't sweating out the Browns decision. "I knew it was a possibility they'd match and I had to be okay with either way it went,'' he said. "It's tough. I'm going to leave it at that.''

He declined to elaborate on the notion of two-and-through.

"One thing that football teaches you is to look at the short side of things,'' he said. "Now, I've got next year to worry about and that's what I'm going to do. You can't look too far into the future. That's a future problem and we'll deal with that later.''

He said he appreciated his new offensive line coach Andy Moeller making the trip to California last month along with Haslam and the others.

"I had a small opportunity to visit with him and talk a little bit,'' he said. "Of course I liked my line coach (George Warhop), but we're linemen. You get comfortable with people and you know what to expect. Moeller seems like a great guy. I haven't been around him that much, but from talking to the other guys, they're excited and looking forward to it.''

He's also heard good things from his teammates about Mike Pettine, Kyle Shanahan and the new schemes.

"I've been pretty quiet on just about every front, but the few things I have heard have been good,'' he said. "One thing I have to say about my teammates is that they're great guys. I've always been happy with the people that have been around Cleveland. They show up and work hard and that's what you want to of your teammates. It's a great environment and I'm looking forward to going back to it.''

Like quarterback Brian Hoyer, Mack is confident the Browns are poised to win this season

"Absolutely,' he said. "We have a great team, great players and I'm excited. We have six Pro Bowlers. That's fantastic. That's a lot to build on and with a couple of other pieces and parts, I think we can win.''

Mack, who will join his teammates in the offseason program here Monday, said he hopes to add more Pro Bowls to his resume, but that's not his primary focus.

"For now, I've got to show up, learn a new offense, put some facetime in and do the best I can,'' he said.