The 49ers have shown interest in signing Cleveland Browns’ 1,000 yard receiver Terrelle Pryor sources have told Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. The Giants, Titans and Eagles have also reportedly reached out.
Though free agency doesn’t officially begin until Thursday at 1 p.m. PT, teams can begin negotiating with agents on Tuesday at 9 a.m. PT, meaning that Pryor’s agent Drew Rosenhaus will have a good idea by Thursday if Pryor can earn more money by re-signing with Cleveland or elsewhere.
The Browns have elected not to apply the franchise tag to Pryor, 27, that would have paid him a little under $16 million for next season. Rosenhaus apparently believes his client should be paid like one of the top receivers in the NFL, with the Browns not feeling he is worth that much money. Last week, Rosenhaus made the Steelers’ Antonio Brown the highest-paid receiver in the NFL at $17 million a year.
“We don’t look at it that way, to be honest,” Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown said when asked about the pressure to re-sign Pryor. “We’d like to have Terrelle back and that’s a priority for us. That said, we’re not going to panic if he’s not back, also. But he’s a good player, works hard, we think he fits in our system, had a lot of success with our coaches, so we think this is a great place for him to continue his career.
Pryor would be arguably the top receiver on the open market along with Alshon Jeffery. Pryor successfully converted from quarterback to receiver last season, and had easily the best year of his career, eclipsing over 1,000 yards in the mostly inept Browns offense.