Browns owner Jimmy Haslam: Hue Jackson 'was never paid to lose games'

In part of what's become a famous class-action lawsuit filed on Tuesday, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores alleges Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 per loss to "tank" for the 2019 NFL season, presumably so Miami could draft quarterback Joe Burrow first overall. 

Ross aggressively denied this claim in a statement released Thursday, but former Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson added his name to the mix earlier this week when he said via Twitter and media interviews he was incentivized to lose during his tenure with the Browns that included a 1-31 stretch from the start of the 2016 season through the end of the subsequent campaign. 

The Browns denied this via a statement, and team owner Jimmy Haslam went one step further in comments offered to Adam Sparks of the Knoxville News Sentinel. 

"Unequivocally, Hue Jackson was never paid to lose games," Haslam said. "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.'

"In the 15-minute ESPN interview that he did, for approximately 14-and-a-half minutes it was about how he was treated so poorly with the Browns and lots of claims he had."

Haslam added: 

"Hue Jackson has never ever accepted any responsibility for our record during that time period. He’s been masterful at pointing fingers but has never accepted any blame. I have accepted a ton of blame, and rightfully so. There are a lot of things I could’ve done better. Hue has never accepted blame for one thing."

The Browns drafted quarterback Baker Mayfield first overall in 2018 but went on to fire Jackson during that season after they started 2-5-1. Cleveland ultimately ended that campaign with a record of 7-8-1. 

"I can’t think of any individual that I’ve worked with over the past 45 years that I spent as much time trying to help be successful as I did Hue Jackson," Haslam explained. "His third year, when our roster began to pretty dramatically improve, the eight games he coached we were 2-5-1. After Hue was dismissed, we went 5-3."