Quote:You're welcome, but the question remains, why did we have to do this for you?   What did we do that you could not have done yourself?  

 

Browns fan here. I will try to answer that question for you.

 

Mack and his agents were in negotiations with the Browns who at the time consisted of former CEO Joe Banner and former GM Mike Lombardi and during negotiations those two were fired by Owner Jimmy Haslam and  were replaced by GM Ray Farmer. By the time Farmer was hired Mack was on vacation or something and when he returned it was just days before the start of Free Agency so Farmer, Haslam, Coach Pettine, and OC Kyle Shanahan all flew out to California and made him an offer but Mack and his agents opted instead to try their luck in Free Agency. The Browns then had 3 options, let Mack walk for nothing, Franchise tagging him which just would have prolonged this another year, or Transition tag him and match what ever offer he got, so their best option was to transition tag him. Mack knew he was gonna get paid anyway, whether it was the Browns or someone else, but by going through Free Agency he got the guaranteed money and the other clauses he wouldn't have gotten if he just signed with Browns to start with. As for Mack wanting out of Cleveland that was totally false, Mack was never quoted as saying anything about wanting out, that was just pure speculation on a reporters part. Mack was just looking for Financial stability whether it was with Cleveland or whoever.

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