Hue Jackson implies Browns owner Jimmy Haslam paid him to lose: 'Trust me it was a good number'

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This story has been updated from a previous version.

Former Browns coach Hue Jackson on Wednesday suggested team owner Jimmy Haslam paid him to lose. That revelation follows former Miami coach Brian Flores alleging Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for every game the team lost during the 2019 season.

Jackson suggested Haslam paid him to lose in reply to another tweet that joked Jackson would be on the Forbes list if he had been paid for every loss the team suffered during his tenure (he went 3-31-1 in two-plus seasons).

MORE: Brian Flores lawsuit, explained

Jackson never fielded a winning team in Cleveland, going 1-15 and 0-16 in 2016 and '17, respectively. The team went 2-5-1 in 2018 before Haslam fired him midway through the season. The Browns had the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 and '18 NFL drafts, which they used to select Myles Garrett and Baker Mayfield, respectively.

Jackson, who currently coaches at Grambling, further tweeted he "can back up every word I'm saying." That assertion came in reply to another tweet from Kimberly Diemert, the executive director of Jackson's foundation, who claimed to have evidence Haslam wanted Jackson to tank in 2016 and '17:

MORE: NFL responds to Brian Flores lawsuit, defends hiring practices

Jackson also claims that he wasn't "silent" about the practice during those years, only that no one was willing to listen to him. He also responded to criticism that he should have used that money to field better teams, saying, "I just get tired of watch my brothers get played, and you people believe the narratives."

Jackson replied to several tweets criticizing him or otherwise expressing doubts about his telling of events. Among those was a challenge to look into some NFL owners, who "you better dig deeper and see the truth."

MORE: Brian Flores says Stephen Ross' $100K-per-loss proposal was reason for his Dolphins firing

Update: The Browns have since issued a statement rebutting Jackson's claims:

Jackson's suggestion that Haslam paid him to tank came after Flores filed suit against the NFL and its teams on Tuesday alleging discriminatory hiring practices and conducting sham interviews for Black coaching and front office candidates under the pretense of following the league's Rooney Rule.

The next step for the suit — the desired outcomes for which are to improve hiring practices and transparency around hiring Black candidates — is to avoid being dismissed by courts.

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