Browns sign Barkevious Mingo to four

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Browns first-round pick Barkevious Mingo signed his four-year contract today with a club option for a fifth year, the team announced.

The deal is worth more than $16 million a league source said, and the Browns were able to obtain offset language in the contract.

The two sides had been haggling over offset language, a provision the Browns wanted in the deal and Mingo did not. Offset language means the team of origin would only have to pay the difference in salary in the event the player is released and signs with a new team before his rookie contract expires.

Mingo received a slight increase over last year's No. 6 overall pick, Morris Claiborne, his former LSU teammate. Claiborne, a cornerback, received a fully-guaranteed four-year deal from the Cowboys worth a total of $16.26 million, including a $10.3 million signing bonus. Claiborne does not have offset language in his contract.

Mingo's timely arrival means he can get down to the business of cracking the starting lineup, which won't be easy. He left minicamp as a second-stringer behind starters Paul Kruger and Jabaal Sheard, and might be part of a rotation at the position.

"Right now the other two guys are better,'' said outside linebackers coach Brian Baker during minicamp. "So yeah, whether I'm supposed to say it or not. Every place I've been I've always played the best guys and played those guys in the best positions. So if Barkevious beats one of those guys out, he'll be a starter. Until then, they're the starters.'' Mingo, who had 12-1/5 sacks in his last two seasons, has every intention of starting the opener against Miami Sept. 8.

"I'm very determined,'' said Mingo during minicamp. "That's the goal. That should be everybody's goal. You want to play, you want to help the team win, but you've got to put in the work.''

He's already gotten a taste of how tough it will be to crack the top two.

"Exactly,'' he said. "Those are some big-time guys. It's a learning curve. I've been thrown into a different position. Time will tell what the coaches think.''

But Mingo would rather earn it than inherit the job from his first-round pedigree.

"You don't want anything given to you,'' he said. "So you earn the respect and put in the work to get what you want.''

For now, Mingo is just eager to start hitting again.

"I'm very excited to get it out the way, just get it started,'' he said. "I'm just ready to put on the pads and show the coaches what us as a class and me personally, what we're made of, being able to compete and earn a spot on the team."

The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Bud Shaw and CineSport's Noah Coslov review Brandon Weeden's spot in Ron Jaworski's QB rankings and discuss Weeden's potential under Norv Turner & Rob Chudzinski. Browns and NFL videos "

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