Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah agrees to 3-year extension worth up to $39M

The extension was on a matter of time.General manager Andrew Berry has made a practice of keeping his good, young players with rich contracts at or near the top of the market. Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was entering the final year of his rookie contract and coming off a Pro Bowl season.The only questions were when the deal would get done and how big it would be.Rookie Mike Hall Jr. charged with domestic violence after incident at Avon homeThe answers came Wednesday morning when the sides agreed to a three-year extension worth up to $39 million that runs through 2027, a league source confirmed to The Chronicle-Telegram.Owusu-Koramoah told The Chronicle earlier in training camp the Browns and his agent had negotiated during the offseason."We're just trying to get as close to that mutual area where we both feel like the value is there," he said.They got there in time to let Owusu-Koramoah give his entire focus to the regular season.The Browns haven't invested heavily at linebacker during Berry's four-year tenure as GM, relying largely on veterans on one-year contracts and players on their rookie deals.Owusu-Koramoah has been the exception since the Browns acquired him.They traded up in 2021 to draft him at No. 52 in the second round out of Notre Dame. They followed that commitment with the extension.Owusu-Koramoah showed flashes of brilliance in his first two years. He started 20 of 25 games, totaling 146 tackles, 10 for loss, eight passes defensed, four forced fumbles and 1.5 sacks.He broke through last season, starting 13 of 16 games and leading the team with 101 tackles. His 20 tackles for loss topped the NFL's linebackers and he added two interceptions, six passes defensed, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble."I see Jeremiah maturing and growing as all of our young players do and growing certainly into his football role, but also growing into a leadership role," coach Kevin Stefanski said during camp.Owusu-Koramoah wanted to stay."My mindset coming in the NFL was that I was going to play for one team, the team that drafted me, the team that took a chance on me," he told The Chronicle. "That's where I wanted to be. That's where I wanted to eventually raise a family. That's where I wanted to experience that and do business."That desire grew during his time with the Browns."I love Cleveland, man," he said. "They got some jazz spots I like, and they got some vegan spots I like. They got good farmers markets."The post Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah agrees to 3-year extension worth up to $39M first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.