Cleveland Browns close to signing 1st-Round pick Danny Shelton
By Paul Noel
Cleveland Browns Danny Shelton at Browns rookie mini camp. (Joshua Gunter/ Northeast Ohio Media Group) Friday, May 8, 2015. Berea, Ohio. – Joshua Gunter, Northeast Ohio Media Group
The Cleveland Browns are closing in on an agreement with their No.12 overall pick Danny Shelton, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The reported four-year contract will be in the ball park of $10,490,000 guaranteed, with a club option for a fifth year.
The contract news comes on the heels of the news that the Jaguars first round (No. 3) pick Dante Fowler suffered a torn ACL in his first rookie practice and is expected to miss the entire season. But rest assured Browns fans according to Cabot, Shelton is cover and signed an injury protection waiver prior to taking the field on Friday in Berea at the start of three-day rookie camp. The injury protection ensures that Shelton will still receive his full slotted salary in the event a freak injury happen, like the case of Fowler in Jacksonville.
Shelton is in rookie camp with 50 tryout players, 11 other draft picks, four undrafted rookies and 11 first-year players. According to Cabot, two of the Browns draft picks, sixth-round tight end Randall Telfer and seventh-round cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu are idle because of injuries. Ifo’s injury is well known (ACL and Dislocated knee), but Telfer is out due to a late-season Lisfranc injury (foot) that occurred in USC’s 45-42 win over Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl back in December.
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The 6-foot-2, 339-pound Shelton should make an immediate impact on a Browns defense that in 2014 ranked 27th in the NFL in yards per carry (4.5), 28th in runs of 20-plus yards (16) and 32nd in rushing yards per game (141.6). It was the fourth time in the past six seasons that the Browns have ranked 27th or worst in rushing yards allowed per game (the best finish in the time period was 18th in 2013). He joins a defensive line rotation with Phil Taylor, John Hughes, Randy Starks, Billy Winn, Desmond Bryant, and fellow rookie Xavier Cooper. This group has the potential to start making opposing running backs work for their yards, and even crush the pocket and free-up the pass rush around the outside.
What do you think of the Browns closing in on a four-year deal with Shelton?