The agents for tight end Jordan Cameron appear to have pulled a clever maneuver in order to get the deal they were seeking for their client.
Cameron on Thursday signed a two-year deal with the Miami Dolphins for $15 million despite also being in contract talks with the Cleveland Browns. What transpired during the evening certainly makes it appear as if Cameron’s agents manipulated a few national reporters in order to get the Dolphins to pony up with their best contract offer.
Apparently Cameron was in Miami meeting with the Dolphins Thursday night about a potential contract. His agents Tom Condon and R.J. Gonser were in negotiations with the Browns at the same time and approved terms of a contract for the tight end, Mary Kay Cabot of the NEOMG reports. Then something strange happened — word leaked from reporters that Cameron had finalized a deal with the Browns, which was not true.
News of Cameron’s deal with the Browns came from highly respected national reporters Ian Rapoport, Rand Getlin and Adam Schefter, all within five minutes of each other:
Jordan Cameron done w/ Cleveland, 2 yrs $15M, source says #Browns
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 12, 2015
TE Jordan Cameron has signed with the #Browns. It's a two-year, $15M deal, per a source.
— Rand Getlin (@Rand_Getlin) March 12, 2015
Browns re-signed TE Jordan Cameron to 2-year, $15 million deal, as @RapSheet and @Rand_Getlin reported.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 12, 2015
Despite many prominent reporters saying Cameron was returning to the Browns, others said the deal wasn’t done.
Contrary to reports, tight end Jordan Cameron will be signing with #Dolphins – not #Browns. Contract details are being finalized right now.
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) March 12, 2015
About an hour later Robinson tweeted that Cameron’s deal with the Dolphins was done. Less than three hours after all the reporters said Cameron was re-signing with Cleveland, the Dolphins announced the signing on Twitter:
Welcome to Miami!
We have signed Jordan Cameron!
#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/c6mlts07Pj
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) March 13, 2015
I speculated at the time that the news of the deal with the Browns must have been leaked by Cameron’s people in order to get the Dolphins to come forward with their best offer for fear of losing the tight end. That appears to be exactly what happened; It’s no coincidence that Miami presented Cameron with an offer he signed within hours of the inaccurate leak.
Ultimately Cabot says the Browns were not willing to pay Cameron the $8 million per year he was seeking and actually had their eye on Charles Clay, whom the Dolphins transition tagged. She reports that the Browns even attempted to trade Cameron for Percy Harvin last year.
Without Cameron or Clay, who appears headed to Buffalo, Jermaine Gresham may be the next target for Cleveland. And how must the Dolphins feel about being manipulated like this?
