NFL finds no wrongdoing by Browns after investigating Hue Jackson's pay-to-tank claims

The NFL has sided with the Browns over Hue Jackson.

The league announced Monday its investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing by the Browns after a review of the allegations Jackson made in February that he was incentivized to lose games in the 2016 and 2017 seasons while serving as Cleveland's head coach.

The NFL released the following statement Monday about the probe led by Mary Jo White, former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission:

"Following a 60-day independent review into comments made by former Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson that the Browns paid or otherwise provided incentives to lose games during the 2016-17 seasons, former U.S. Attorney and SEC Chair Mary Jo White and a team of lawyers from the Debevoise firm determined that none of the allegations could be substantiated.

"The investigation found no evidence to suggest that the Browns' Four-Year Plan or the club's ownership or football personnel sought to lose or incentivized losses and made no decisions deliberately to weaken the team to secure a more favorable draft position.

"The comprehensive review included the full cooperation of the Browns and interviews with Jimmy Haslam and current and former members of the organization. While Coach Jackson initially agreed to meet with the investigators, he ultimately did not do so.

"Although unable to speak directly to Coach Jackson, the Debevoise team had access to his public statements and to his filings and testimony in a prior arbitration proceeding. The club also produced thousands of pages of documents, including emails, texts, internal memos and presentation decks as well as other material relating to club operations and the filings and testimony in the arbitration proceeding between the club and Coach Jackson."

A Browns spokesperson issued a statement not long after the league.

"We appreciate the independent investigation led by Mary Jo White and the Debevoise team which brings closure to these allegations that Hue Jackson publicly recanted shortly after they were made and that we've known all along are categorically false," the Browns' statement said. "As we've previously stated, we welcomed this investigation because the integrity of our game is something that should not be taken lightly and an independent review was crucial in bringing a conclusion to this matter."

In a text exchange Monday with the Beacon Journal, Kimberly Diemert, the executive director of the Hue Jackson Foundation, said Jackson would have comments on Tuesday. Diemert used Twitter on Tuesday to direct the Beacon Journal to a behind-the-scenes story Sports Illustrated published about Jackson's arbitration hearings with the Browns in January and March 2020.

According to SI, Jackson cited a release agreement that precludes him from speaking publicly about his grievance and declined to answer SI’s questions, but, before the NFL released its findings Monday, the coach provided the following statement: “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?”

The NFL also hired White to investigate allegations made by former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores that owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 per loss during the 2019 season. Flores is suing the Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos and alleging racial discrimination by the league's franchises in hiring practices.

After Flores filed the lawsuit in February, Jackson embarked on a media blitz to accuse the Browns of something similar. At the time, the Browns labeled Jackson's accusations “categorically false.”

Although Jackson has made a distinction that he isn't claiming the Browns offered him payments per loss, he has said the Browns paid him end-of-season bonus money that maxed out at $750,000 as part of a four-year plan designed to field a young team and stockpile draft picks in the first two seasons without a focus on winning until the third year.

"No, I was never offered money like Brian [Flores] had mentioned," Jackson told CNN's Anderson Cooper in February. "I think this is a totally different situation but has some similarities.

"When you talk about incentivizing a four-year plan that led to the team not being able to play as well, that people benefited off of that — that's different. But at the same time, it has some of the same similarities to it."

The SI story details the four-year plan Jackson has repeatedly referenced.

A table SI published from the plan lists percentages Jackson could earn for various rankings without mentioning winning as a goal in 2016 or 2017. In 2018 and 2019, "win at least 10 games" and "finished 2nd or better in the AFC North" are listed as benchmarks.

Jackson had made stronger claims on Twitter in the days preceding his February media tour, which included the aforementioned CNN interview. In one tweet, Jackson wrote Browns owner “Jimmy Haslam was happy while we kept losing.”

A fan responded by tweeting, "Jimmy Haslam wasn’t offering ... 100k per loss or Hue would be on the Forbes list."

Jackson replied, "Trust me it was a good number!"

In response to Jackson's allegations, Haslam told the Knoxville News Sentinel in February, “Unequivocally, Hue Jackson was never paid to lose games. That is an absolute falsehood. And it’s also an absolute falsehood that I laughed while we were losing. Most people who know me would say, ‘That’s not how Jimmy would react to losing.’”

Diemert also alleged in February on Twitter the Browns had paid bonus money to Jackson, former head of football operations Sashi Brown, whom the Baltimore Ravens recently hired as their president, Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta and General Manager Andrew Berry to tank in 2016 and 2017, when Cleveland went 1-31. In a phone interview with the Beacon Journal, Diemert stood by the statements she made on social media.

Jackson went 3-36-1 (1-15 in 2016, 0-16 in 2017 and 2-5-1 in 2018) in two and a half seasons as the head coach of the Browns before Haslam fired him on Oct. 29, 2018.

Jackson, now the head football coach at Grambling State University, signed an agreement dated Nov. 5, 2018, releasing the Browns from all claims in exchange for Jackson collecting the remainder of his salary, SI reported.

Peter Harvey, an NFL-appointed arbitrator, ruled in May 2020 because of the release agreement, evidence of the four-year plan would be barred from Jackson’s arbitration case, according to SI. The arbitration case was eventually dismissed.

SI reported Joe Stafford, Jackson's lawyer, had prepared an application to file in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to vacate the league’s arbitration, but, per Stafford, Jackson chose not to proceed due to financial considerations and the prospect of a trial in Cleveland.

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: NFL says Hue Jackson's Browns tanking claims couldn't be substantiated