Former Cleveland Browns coach Hue Jackson said Wednesday on ESPN’s SportsCenter that the Browns had a “four-year plan” that incentivized losing during the first two years which led to his 1-31 record during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
Jackson said that bonus money was available if certain measurables were met such as aggregate rankings, being the youngest team and having so many of draft picks.
“Teams that win are just not the youngest team, not that the youngest teams can’t win, so I didn’t understand the process. I didn’t understand what the plan was, I asked for clarity because it did not talk about winning and losing until Year 3 and 4. So that told you right there that something wasn’t correct but I still couldn’t understand it until I had the team that I had,” he told ESPN.
Jackson said he told owner Jimmy Haslam that he wasn’t interested in bonus money and instead wanted that money used to improve the team.
