Insider Reveals Where Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah’s Contract Negotiations Stand
The Cleveland Browns are facing several hard decisions before the end of this season as the team has several important athletes playing in the final year of the current contract.
While much coverage has been devoted to wide receiver Amari Cooper’s situation, few reports have covered other star players’ contract status.
Analyst Brad Stainbrook recently provided an update on Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah’s situation as the fourth-year linebacker is entering the final season of his rookie contract.
Stainbrook shared the update on Twitter this week, noting that while Owusu-Koramoah’s agent has already begun the contract negotiations, very little progress has been made
“The sides are struggling to ‘see eye to eye’ on a number figure,” Stainbrook wrote
Stainbrook added that both parties are attempting to finalize the agreement before the start of the season.
After Owusu-Koramoah’s breakout season in 2023, the Browns are looking to re-sign the athlete at a deal commensurate to where the player currently stands and perhaps earn a discount now should the linebacker continue to break through in his role.
In 2023, Owusu-Koramoah earned a Pro Bowl berth after he finished with 101 tackles in 16 games.
The 6-foot-2 linebacker was also responsible for one forced fumble and six pass deflections last season.
In his three-year career, Owusu-Koramoah has amassed 274 tackles, 14 pass deflections, and five forced fumbles.
With multiple starters from last season’s team electing to sign elsewhere during free agency, the Browns are relying on Owusu-Koramoah to be an anchor in the middle of Jim Schwartz’s defensive unit in 2024.
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What to expect from Elijah Moore in year 2 with the Browns
Moore could be tasked with being Cleveland’s deep threat in 2024
The Cleveland Browns traded for Elijah Moore in March of 2023 to be their No.2 wide receiver alongside Amari Cooper. Andrew Berry and the rest of the front office were “high” on Moore during the NFL Draft process in 2021 due to his speed and stop/start ability at different levels of the football field.
Despite his fairly low target and reception totals during his first two seasons in New York, he displayed a lot of versatility in both the slot and on the outside. His capacity to be utilized on the outside even though he doesn’t have the prototypical size to win on the boundary is very unique in today’s game.
In last year’s training camp, Moore was rotated all over the field and even lined up in the backfield at running back on occasion but was never used there during the regular season.
Statistically speaking he ended up having the best season of his short career in 2023 but his impact wasn’t felt as much or as often as the team had hoped. There are a couple of different reasons for this but the main one is most likely that Moore didn’t have time to settle into the offense at his most effective position.
Kevin Stefanski was trying to figure out where he fit best in a short amount of time and he ended up rotating between the slot and “Z” on a consistent basis. Though it’s possible that he could effectively handle the flip-flopping, more often than not it adds unneeded stress and information overload.
As the season went on Moore was used on the outside more often, allowing him to take advantage of his long-speed and intermediate to deep route-running ability. He can beat defensive backs in a
“phone booth” due to his short-area speed and explosion but he’s more effective when he can force cornerbacks to run with him downfield. His ability to “stop on a dime” as well as his choppy footwork make him deadly on double-moves such as on slant-go’s or hitch-n-go’s.
