Cleveland Browns deny Hue Jackson was incentivized for losses when he was head coach

By Jacob Lev, CNN

Updated 0338 GMT (1138 HKT) February 3, 2022

The Cleveland Browns won only one game total in Hue Jackson's first two seasons.

(CNN)The Cleveland Browns on Wednesday denied claims made by former head coach Hue Jackson that he was rewarded monetarily for losing games in order to get a higher pick in the NFL Draft.

«The recent comments by Hue Jackson and his representatives relating to his tenure as our head coach are completely fabricated,» a Browns' spokesperson said in a statement. «Any accusation that any member of our organization was incentivized to deliberately lose games is categorically false.»Former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores describes being offered money to lose gamesJackson, who was fired by Browns during the 2019 season, said in a tweet that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was «happy while we kept losing.» The tweet came after attorneys for former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filing a racial discrimination lawsuit that also alleges Dolphins owner Stephen Ross wanted to pay him $100,000 for intentionally losing games.In response to a tweet saying Haslam wasn't offering Jackson $100,000 for every loss, Jackson responded, «Trust me it was a good number!,» implying he was paid to lose.Read MoreJackson appeared on ESPN on Wednesday and clarified his remarks on Twitter.«We were paid for it,» Jackson said. «You're going to see it as losing, but the way the team was built there was no chance to win at a high level.» Jackson told ESPN, «I wasn't offered $100,000 for every game but there was a substantial amount of money made within what happened in the situation every year at the end of it and I didn't really truly understand why until all those numbers, and you add it up and you go 'What is