Surprisingly, Jedrick Wills not having a contract has flown under the radar.
As of today, that is no more.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, the Browns officially signed Wills to a four-year deal with $19.7 million guaranteed.
The deal also includes a signing bonus of $11.8 million.
Wills and his agent, Nicole Lynn, flew out to Cleveland on Tuesday to sign the deal.
Congrats to client @JWills73 on signing his $19.7 million dollar fully-guaranteed contract with the @Browns ! #YMAPAA pic.twitter.com/WL0OcjBnwL
— Nicole Lynn (@AgentNicoleLynn) July 8, 2020
The contract is a four-year, fully guaranteed contract, which includes the signing bonus.
It also includes a fifth-year club option with an average salary of about $4.9 million.
As of now, the Browns still need to strike deals with second-round pick, safety Grant Delpit, and third-round pick, linebacker Jacob Phillips.
Making The Change
Wills has been working on switching from right to left tackle.
That has included virtual meetings with offensive line coach Bill Callahan and former Browns left tackle and likely Hall of Famer Joe Thomas.
The Browns management knew that this would be a likely obstacle as the team heads into the season
When talking to the media after the selection of Wills, General Manager Andrew Berry had this to say.
“I do think that there’s going to be some physical re-programming or gaining a little bit of comfort,” said Berry. “From our perspective with Jed, the reason that he was playing the right side at Alabama is because they had a very successful left-handed quarterback. In terms of the actual physical skillset – his speed, his athletic ability and his ability to pass-protect – all of those are top-notch from our perspective, and we think that he can really play either side of the line of scrimmage.”
The Resume
Wills broke into the picture as one of the best offensive linemen in the nation last year.
His accolades for the 2019 season included the following:
- Second-Team All-American from AFCA, Associated Press, The Sporting News, and Walter Camp.
- Third-Team All-American at tackle by Pro Football Focus
- All-SEC First-Team by the Associated Press and league coaches
- Second-Team Preseason All-American by four major news outlet
- The 2019 season was dominant with Wills leading the way.
Wills allowed just one sack all season and 3.5 quarterback hurries in 771 snaps for a success rate of 99.0%.
He helped anchor the offensive line that allowed just .92 sacks per game, which ranked third in the nation.
He will look to help protect quarterback Baker Mayfield, who finished with one of the worst quarterback ratings in the league.
Protect Baker at all costs !!!🦍
With the 10th pick in the 2020 NFL draft the Cleveland Browns select Jedrick Wills Jr. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/R6eYGfBQai
— 5iveStarSports (@5iveStarSports_) April 24, 2020
Final Thoughts
It should be noted that due to the pandemic, deals for prospects have been taking longer than usual.
Wills is not the only first-round pick to take this long to get signed.
Now, the Browns will need to find a way to get deals done with Delpit and Phillips before players are expected to report on July 21st.
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