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June 30, 2014Chris Perez discusses his time in Cleveland
June 30, 2014
While the Cleveland Browns are still looking to lock up their No. 1 draft selection in cornerback Justin Gilbert, all eyes will be aimed directly at tight end Jordan Cameron who will reportedly “drive a hard bargain” when it comes time to ink an extension.
Cameron is coming off of a season where he hauled in 80 passes for 917 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s also coming into a season where he’s hired super agent Tom Condon (his third agent this offseason) and will be the focal point of an offense that will be without Pro Bowl receiver Josh Gordon for an undefined amount of time. He’ll be leaving a system that was extremely friendly to tight ends (thanks, Norv Turner!) and entering one that is predicated upon the run game. This said, Kyle Shanahan has molded career years out of tight ends like Owen Daniels, Chris Cooley, Fred Davis and Jordan Reed—the most recent finishing with 45 catches, 499 yards, and three touchdowns despite missing the final six games of the season.
Sure, Cameron could be tagged in 2015 rather than going through all of the bound-to-be-painful extension talks. But it goes without saying that Cameron, who lined up in the slot many times this past season, will keep an eye on the ruling over New Orleans and their tight end Jimmy Graham. The Saints tagged Graham as a tight end, but the NFLPA is arguing he should be paid as a wide receiver after lining up in the slot or outside on 67 percent of his 2013 snaps. The tight end tag is worth $5.3 million less than the wideout tag.
Cameron will likely look to better the deal signed by Jared Cook a little over a year ago, as the tight end inked a deal with the Rams for four year and $35 million, with $19 million guaranteed. He is set to make just $645,000 as he enters the final season of his rookie contract.
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(Photo: Pioneer Press/Sherri LaRose-Chiglo)
6 Comments
He still has health concerns in my book. He is certainly worth top tier TE money, but not WR money. It’s also cool to think about this, but looking at our roster, we could easily have salary cap concerns by 2016 – what a problem to have!
If Cameron, like Graham, calls himself a tight end, how can he argue that he should be paid as a receiver? The decision on Graham should come down this week, but I’m surprised that Cameron hasn’t learned from this debacle.
Wouldn’t necessarily read much into this Mary Kay throwaway line. She used the “hard bargain” phrase only because Cameron’s latest agent is Condon, not because she has any scoop. Condon has held players out (like Brady Quinn) but his client list includes plenty where negotiations were fine.
When a player has three agents in a few months the bigger worry is that the player doesn’t know what he wants, or has unrealistic expectations or is getting bad advice from his posse. A big shot like Condon might actually make things go smoothly: get the client’s mind right, stop the posse noise.
Presumably without Gordon, and surrounded by a pedestrian receiving corps (At least on paper), this should be Jordan’s chance to prove that he’s all that.
Let’s see what you got, Mr. Cameron…
Was thinking the same thing about the 3 agents. It also made me have a Peyton Hillis flashback *shudder*.
His agent has to know that the Browns could also use the “WR” thing against Cameron.
Jordan: You say you’re a WR? well, you were behind Nate Washington, Brian Hartline, and Keenan Allen in receiving yards last season. Allen even scored more TDs than you.
What do their contracts look like? Keenan Allen makes $495,000/year.