Cleveland Browns sign third-round selection Cody Kessler
By Thomas Moore
The Cleveland Browns head into the summer break having signed quarterback Cody Kessler to his rookie contract.
The Cleveland Browns now have all but two of their 14 draft selections signed after agreeing to terms with quarterback Cody Kessler on Thursday.
The deal is reportedly a four-year deal worth $3.4 million, including $1.1 million in guaranteed dollars and a $660,000 signing bonus, according to cleveland.com.
The team announced the move on its website.
The Browns selected Kessler in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft out of USC, where the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Kessler started 41 games, throwing for 10,339 yards, 88 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. An accurate passer, Kessler finished his collegiate career as the Trojans leader in career completion percentage (67.5), and third on the school’s all-time list for career touchdowns and completions.
Since joining the Browns, Kessler has gone out of his way to be everything that the last quarterback the team drafted wasn’t, as he is often one of the first players to arrive at team headquarters each day, went over the playbook with fellow rookie Corey Coleman prior to rookie minicamp, and will spend time working under the tutelage of throwing coach Tom House prior to training camp.
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“For me it’s always been that I don’t ever want to have an excuse for why I didn’t grasp the offense or anything,” Kessler told the team’s website. “If I have the opportunity, if there’s a film room open, if I can stay here as long as I can, I want to take advantage of that.
“I want to come into camp and act like I’ve been in this offense for 10 years, I want to be completely understanding of everything, I want to know how to read defenses in the NFL, I want to know how many different looks there are so that eliminates hesitation for me going into (training) camp, because in the NFL you have to play at a high level, you have to play at a fast pace and I’ve had a little bit of a taste of that in OTAs and going into minicamp.
That work ethic and commitment helps clear up the mystery a little bit as to why the Browns liked Kessler so much during draft weekend. While head coach Hue Jackson has openly talked about how much he likes Kessler’s game, he can’t come to camp with a sense of entitlement or believing that a roster spot is locked up.
While Robert Griffin III is going to be the starting quarterback, there is still an outside shot that Kessler can unseat veteran Josh McCown for the QB2 role. That may not be the best plan for the Browns this fall, but at least Kessler is doing everything he can to make it a difficult decision for the coaching staff.
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Kessler becomes the 12th draft pick signed by the Browns, joining Coleman, Emmanuel Ogbah, Shon Coleman, Ricardo Louis, Derrick Kindred, Seth DeValve, Jordan Payton, Spencer Drango, Rashard Higgins, Trey Caldwell and Scooby Wright III.
The only players who remained unsigned as the team heads off for its summer break are defensive end Carl Nassib and linebacker Joe Schobert.