The Browns have made it official with linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, announcing that the linebacker has signed a three-year extension on Wednesday.
Meeting with the media before practice, Owusu-Koramoah told reporters that it felt good to have the deal done after spending a while negotiating.
“It feels like I’m loved, right?” Owusu-Koramoah said. “It feels like now I have an opportunity to respond to a lot of the different things that’s going on in my life and a lot of the different things that have been going on. It feels good to be locked into a place and have the place also respect you and give you honor as well.
“I would say I believed, but you never really know how the NFL operates. There’s so many different things that can be thrown at you. So you have to be appreciative when you can be drafted to a team and then the team extends you more years. So, there’s always a sense of honor there.”
A second-round pick out of Notre Dame in the 2021 draft, Owusu-Koramoah was heading into the last year of his rookie deal. But after a breakout season in 2023 under defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, the linebacker is entrenched as a cornerstone of Cleveland’s defense.
While he had recorded just 10 tackles for loss over his first two seasons, Owusu-Koramoah was No. 4 in the league with 20 last year.
“I mean, anytime you have a different scheme, it’s all about progression, it’s all about learning the scheme,” Owusu-Koramoah said. “But it’s also about the relationships you build with the coach, the relationships you build with your teammates. So, the scheme, I think that allows me to be myself ... and it allows me to really tap into the personnel that I feel I fit into, which is being very diverse — whether it’s blitzing off the edge, staying in the middle, being in pass coverage, pass rush, whatever it may be. So, I feel like it’s a diverse defense and it works well with different personnel.”
Browns G.M. Andrew Berry said in a statement that Owusu-Koramoah has “shown himself to be among the best at the position.”
“He’s a player that lives behind the [line of scrimmage] because he’s a heat-seeking missile with rare, shape-shifting movement skills that would even make Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus blush,” Berry said, in an apparent reference to The Matrix. “Jeremiah has overcome personal tragedy and has served his communities — both domestically and abroad — while maintaining an infectious energy in everything he does.
“We are proud that he will represent our organization for years to come.”
In 41 career games, Owusu-Koramoah has recorded 5.0 sacks, 30 tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hits, five forced fumbles, 14 passes defensed, and two interceptions.
