Hue Jackson’s contract with the Browns had an addendum that included bonus incentives that did not explicitly call for losing games, but appeared to incentivize losing, according to documents obtained by Sports Illustrated’s Gary Gramling and Conor Orr.
Jackson, who coached in Cleveland from 2016 to ’18, claimed in February that the team gave him incentives to lose games between the ’16 and ’17 seasons. The league opened an investigation into the allegations in April and announced Monday that it could not substantiate his claims.
In internal documents obtained by SI, Jackson would receive a bonus after meeting specific incentives that were outlined in “a separate, internal Browns document, titled ‘The Four Year Plan.’” In Article 3 of his contract, the portion that outlines his compensation, Cleveland included a line that said, “In addition to salary, Employee shall be eligible for bonus compensation in accordance with the criteria amounts outlined on Exhibit A.”
