INDIANAPOLIS: Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown acknowledged he’s playing with fire by declining to place a franchise tag on impending unrestricted free-agent wide receiver Terrelle Pryor.
The NFL’s deadline for teams to use franchise tags passed at 4 p.m. Wednesday without Pryor being tagged.
The Browns hope to sign Pryor to a long-term contract extension, and they have meetings scheduled with his agents Drew and Jason Rosenhaus this week at the NFL Scouting Combine.
But without a new deal, Pryor’s agents would be permitted by league rules to negotiate with other teams beginning March 7 and he’d officially hit the open market at 4 p.m. March 9.
However, Brown expects other clubs to put out feelers to Pryor’s camp before those dates, even though the NFL would consider that illegal tampering.
“If you’re not going to use the tag, the guy’s effectively in free agency and will be solicited by other teams through the week here in Indy,” Brown said during the combine at the Indiana Convention Center. “We’re realistic about that.
“We’ll work through the process with Terrelle and his representatives. He’s a priority. We won’t be panicked if things don’t work out and he’s not on our roster.”
With the NFL salary cap now set at $167 million, the Browns have $102.3 million in room. Franchising Pryor would have cost them $15.682 million on a one-year deal. That’s a steep price, but the tag would have kept him off the open market.
Asked if Pryor simply wasn’t worth tagging, Brown replied: “I wouldn’t characterize it that way. We want to have him here long term as opposed to kind of a one-year temporary option. I think through my conversations he understands. We value him a lot.”
Brown said he and coach Hue Jackson have talked to Pryor several times this offseason and the team will work to find “some middle ground” with his agents in its attempt to retain him.
“He’s a good player, works hard, we think he fits in our system, had a lot of success with our coaches, so we think this is a great place for him to continue his career,” Brown said. “I appreciated his remarks with the press about wanting to stay in Cleveland, and then it’s on us in this process here to try to make sure we can exhaust all options to make that happen.”
Pryor played his first full season in 2016 after switching from quarterback to receiver and led the Browns with 77 catches for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns.
Brown repeatedly said the franchise wouldn’t panic if it fails to re-sign Pryor and explained there will be opportunities to bolster the position in free agency and April’s draft.
But the truth is losing Pryor would be a major blow to the Browns, so they’re determined to prevent a departure. Now they’ll need to strike a deal without the safety net a franchise tag would have provided.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com.