Did The Cleveland Browns Lose Games On Purpose? NFL Investigates Tanking Claims

Shortly after Brian Flores accused Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross in February of trying to pay him to lose games, Hue Jackson indicated that the Cleveland Browns used the same tactic when he was the team’s head coach. Now, the NFL is investigating whether or not Cleveland tried to lose games on purpose.

Sports Illustrated reported Monday that the league has begun looking into allegations that the Browns encouraged Jackson to lose games in the 2016 and 2017 NFL seasons. Jackson went 3-36 as Cleveland’s head coach from 2016 to 2018.

The Browns had one victory over 34 games, marking the worst stretch of futility in NFL history.

“Two years ago I tried to do this the right way, through the bylaws and constitution of the National Football League, to ask them to investigate the Cleveland Browns for all the allegations that I’ve made. So why open an investigation now?” Jackson told Sports Illustrated.

Jackson has clarified that he was never offered a bonus for each loss, which Flores claims was the case during his time as Miami’s head coach. Jackson, who is currently the head coach at Grambling State, stands by the assertion that the Browns were tanking, hoping to finish with a poor record, which means a higher draft pick in the next NFL Draft.

Cleveland denies that it ever tried to intentionally lose games.

"Even though Hue recanted his allegations a short time after they were made, it was important to us and to the integrity of the game to have an independent review of the allegations," team spokesman Peter Jean-Baptiste said in a statement to ESPN. "We welcomed an investigation and we are confident the results will show, as we've previously stated, that these allegations are categorically false.”

The Browns have gone 25-24 in the last three seasons.

The NFL is still dealing with the fallout from Flores' lawsuit in February. Flores claimed that Ross offered as much as $100,000 for every loss in 2019.