Mack (6-foot-4, 311 pounds) was drafted by the Browns in the first round in 2009. He has not missed one offensive play in five years, a run of 4,998 consecutive snaps. Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
The Cleveland Browns are about to find out the price of not paying up to retain Pro Bowl center Alex Mack.
According to a multiple reports on Wednesday night, Mack reached agreement with the Jacksonville Jaguars on a five-year offer sheet.
The choice for the Browns is simple — match the deal or watch Mack walk.
The Browns placed the transition tag on Mack — not the franchise tag — giving the team the chance to match any offer sheet he might sign.
The transition tag guarantees Mack the average of the 10 highest-paid offensive linemen, or $10.039 million.
By using the transition tag on Mack instead of the franchise tag, Cleveland will have five days to match any offer. If the Browns had used their franchise tag, Mack would have made $11.654 million next season.
Browns head coach Mike Pettine said Wednesday in a conference call the situation was fluid.
“I’m not that comfortable talking about it because it’s an ongoing contractual thing,” Pettine said. “But I just think that any time you’re in a situation where’s there a tag and I just think guys feel like, ‘hey, nothing has happened so far,’ so there might be some optimism there, but it’s something that’s very fluid and changes day to day.”
Mack (6-foot-4, 311 pounds) was drafted by the Browns in the first round in 2009. He has not missed one offensive play in five years, a run of 4,998 consecutive snaps.
