Having placed the transition tag on Alex Mack last month, the Cleveland Browns now have to decide just how much they want to hold on to their Pro Bowl center. Mack is expected to sign a five-year offer sheet with the Jacksonville Jaguars by Friday, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, at which point the Browns would have five days to match the deal.
Alex Mack will sign offer with Jaguars, hopes Browns don’t match
The transition-tagged Mack is reportedly on the verge of signing an offer sheet with the Jags and has no desire to return to Cleveland, who still has the option of matching the contract.
David Richard-US PRESSWIRE
Schefter reports that Mack has no interest in returning to Cleveland and hopes to have the contract with Jacksonville go through. The five-year deal from the Jags has reportedly been specifically tailored to make it as hard as possible for the Browns to match it.
Cleveland placed the rarely used transition tag on Mack in early March at the beginning of free agency. The tag allows a player to negotiate freely with other teams but gives the team that placed the tag the option of matching any offer. Unlike the non-exclusive franchise tag, however, the Browns will receive no compensation if they elect not to let Mack walk.
Mack has been an anchor on the Browns line since being selected in the first round of the 2009 draft. He has yet to miss a snap, much less a game, appearing in 5,150 consecutive plays, according to Field Yates of ESPN Boston.
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