Jordan Cameron Is Running out of Time to Earn a Big Extension in Cleveland

One year does not make a career. One year usually does not get you paid like an elite talent. One year might have to be enough if tight end Jordan Cameron wants to earn big money with the Cleveland Browns past this season, however.

One of the toughest jobs of a general manager in the NFL is deciding when a free agent, or potential free agent, is worth opening up the piggy bank. If you pay a guy too much he can hamper your salary cap and if you underpay them then you risk contract holdouts and locker room distractions.

It is a delicate balance which few can master.

Browns general manager Ray Farmer will have to walk that line when the season ends and he has to make a decision regarding Cameron’s future with the team. He is in the final year of his rookie contract and many thought he was due for a huge payday.

As a Pro Bowler in 2013, he caught 80 balls for 917 yards and seven touchdowns. He was a huge weapon for a Browns offense which did not have many. Towards the end of the season, teams had to scheme and game plan to take Cameron away from the Browns offense.

That made things difficult for Cameron down the stretch. He caught just one touchdown in his last eight games of 2013 and had more than 50 receiving yards just twice in the last seven games. Elite talent is able to adapt to double-teams and still make plays. Cameron did not.

This year was supposed to show that the 2013 season was not a fluke. He would have a chance to prove that his first two years of his career were the aberration and not his Pro Bowl season.

Between 2011 and 2012 Cameron caught just 26 passes for 259 yards and one touchdown. He was a collegiate basketball player who was trying to make the transition to tight end in the NFL and things were not going well.

To be frank, Cameron was soft. He missed significant practice time for the slightest of injuries. Through his first two years he was active for just 22 games.

He was also soft at the point of attack. Tight end is a position at which you need to be aggressive. Pass-catching tight ends are not expected to be lineman-like in their blocking ability, but they have to at least hold their own. Instead his lack of blocking skills held him off the field in crucial passing situations.

David Richard/Associated Press

When he was on the field he was timid when the ball was thrown his way. Far too often he refused to use his size and strength to overpower smaller defensive backs. He also never attacked the football when it was in the air. Usually the player who reaches the ball first makes the play.

But in 2013 that all changed. Cameron was making plays on offense, he was blocking enough to stay on the field and he figured out that he was a mismatch to most cornerbacks and linebackers. The highlight reel you could make from Cameron’s catches last season would have been rivaled at his position only by New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham.

Cameron averaged 11.5 yards per reception in 2013 and made big play after big play when his team needed him.

But when he and his team needed a big season the most it has been an utter mess. His 2014 campaign has been one he would like to forget to this point. First, there was a shoulder injury which limited him throughout most of training camp and early in the season.

In September he had an MRI and it showed no structural damage, according to Cleveland.com. That would normally be a good thing, but Cameron is obviously not himself on the field—or at least the player everyone hoped he had become.

"You can't really protect it," Cameron told Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer at the end of September. "I can't tell a guy not to hit me over here. It's just one of those things...You can't be thinking about it because it'll affect the way you play."

He has already missed a game this season and has caught just 13 passes for 150 yards and one touchdown. What is even more disturbing is that he has caught under 50 percent of his targets and also has a few drops this year.

On Sunday, after looking like he was going to have a great game because of a quick start, he left with a concussion in the first half and did not return. As we have seen in the past, these things can be gone in a week or linger for closer to a month.

It would be in Cameron’s best interest to get back on the field as soon as possible. If he misses too much time, he risks walking into contract negotiations with another poor season under his belt and a history of injuries. Things will only get tougher for him down the stretch too.

In 2013 Cameron did the large majority of his damage in the first four games of the season. Wide receiver Josh Gordon was suspended for those first four games. As soon as Gordon returned to the team Cameron’s numbers took a dip and never really recovered. Cameron totaled 40 percent of his yards and five of his seven touchdowns in those first four games.

(Through 7 Games)	2013	2014
Yards	515	250
TDs	6	1

Gordon is scheduled to return from his 2014 suspension in four more games. If Cameron cannot get back on the field soon, he will miss valuable time as the team’s primary target.

Before this season Cameron was on pace to be paid like one of the best tight ends in the NFL. That means he would be pulling a salary close to the $40 million that Graham got in New Orleans this past offseason.

At the very least he would have been paid more than St. Louis tight end Jared Cook who has a contract worth $35.1 million. Now he may be looking at significantly less.

The Browns could decide they want one more year of evaluation on Cameron and hit him with the franchise tag and that would cost them only about $6 million. That tag may not be available, however, depending on what happens with quarterback Brian Hoyer. They may need it to extend his tenure in Cleveland one more season.

No player likes the franchise tag, but you would have to imagine Cameron would hate it more than most. Guys with a history of injuries and inconsistent numbers usually like to get guaranteed money and the security of a multiyear deal when it is ripe for the picking.

The silver lining for Cameron is that he is just 26 years old and obviously has huge upside. The unfortunate part is that he is currently writing the book on who he is in the NFL, and it is not a best seller.

Oft-injured, soft tight ends do not get paid elite money. Playmakers who redefine their position do. He needs to start showing he is closer to the latter than the former, or he and his agent will be sorely disappointed come this offseason.