Contract talks are at a standstill between the Cleveland Browns and the No. 3 overall pick, running back Trent Richardson, a league source told The Plain Dealer on Friday.
Rapoport: What's the holdup?
The new CBA was supposed to make rookie deals easy. Why are most of the top picks unsigned? Ian Rapoport explains. **More ...**
The snag is offset language, which wasn't included in the contracts signed by Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III.
Beyond that, the terms of the deal are predictable -- thanks to the rookie slotting system -- and should fall somewhere close to a fully guaranteed $20.4 million over four years, with a $13.4 million signing bonus, according to the newspaper.
We don't expect a significant delay. Richardson's agent, Jimmy Sexton, was busy Friday finalizing a contract between No. 7 pick Mark Barron and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Cleveland's efforts to sign Brandon Weeden have been slowed by the quarterback's pursuit of four fully guaranteed years, unusual terms for a player drafted at No. 22. Browns general manager Tom Heckert told The Plain Dealer he expects both rookies to be signed on time, but didn't clarify if that meant for training camp -- which opens July 28 -- or rookie camp, which begins Tuesday.
Again, no reason to panic. It's only the future of the Browns' offense we're talking about here.
