Report: Alex Mack a real possibility to sign a new deal with the Browns

Cleveland Browns center Alex Mack is expected to opt-out of his current contract, but it may not signal the end of Mack’s time in Cleveland.

It has long been expected by many that Cleveland Browns center Alex Mack will officially opt-out of his current contract with the team on March 4.

But with the Browns heading in a new direction under head coach Hue Jackson and a new front office team, Mack may be ready to switch up the script, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Citing unnamed sources, Rapoport said that Mack returning to Cleveland under a new deal is a “real possibility.”

Mack reportedly met with Jackson during Super Bowl week and, just like left tackle Joe Thomas, came out of the meeting liking what he heard.

While it is great news that the Browns may have an opportunity to retain one of the league’s best centers, it will not come without a price. According to some predictions, Mack has a chance to become the league’s first $10 million a year center.

Related: Alex Mack believes Browns heading in right direction

Thanks to the mismanagement of former general manager Ray Farmer, Mack was able to work out a contract in 2014 that let him become a free agent again this offseason, and almost from the moment that Mack put pen to paper on the new deal, many believed that not only would he opt-out but there was absolutely no way he would even consider resigning with the Browns.

Mack’s current deal, which he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars after Farmer foolishly placed the transition tag on Mack, included $18 million in guaranteed money during the first two years and another $8 million in guaranteed money if he is on the Browns’ roster on April 5, according to cleveland.com.

In addition, the contract included a no-trade clause as well as the opt-out clause, which if Mack waits until after March 1 to exercise means the Browns are not allowed to place the franchise or transition tag on him.

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If Mack is willing to come back to the Browns the team needs to find a way to make it happen. The offensive line is the lone strength on the offense, and with a new quarterback possibly arriving via the draft the team needs to keep the line strong.

That extends to right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, an unrestricted free agent who also needs to be a priority for the Browns.

“We have the best right tackle and the best center in the NFL and I’d certainly like to keep those guys,” Thomas recently told cleveland.com. “You’re not going to make your team better by getting a worse player at those positions. That’s my take but there are decisions that are made in football that are related to contract, that are unrelated to how good you are as a player or a person, so I can understand if things go differently. But I’d like them to be here obviously.”

It may not be easy or cheap, but the Browns could do a lot worse than to listen to Thomas when it comes to Mack and Schwartz.