The Browns' right side of the offensive line is set to be stabilized for the next four years.
That's because the guy who's anchored that end of the line for the last three seasons is staying in Cleveland.
Jack Conklin signed a four-year contract extension Monday that will keep him with the Browns through 2026. The news comes nearly two weeks after Conklin was named the team's 2022 Ed Block Courage Award winner after his recovery from a torn patellar tendon injury that ended his 2021 season early. He's played every game at right tackle for the Browns this season after he returned in Week 3.
"It's really exciting," Conklin said Saturday after the Browns played the Saints. "I'm happy to be a part of this organization for longer … I'm a Midwest guy and I love Midwest people. I'm from Michigan and my wife (Caitlyn) is from Cleveland, so this is home."
A first-round pick from Michigan State by the Titans in 2016, Conklin joined the Browns as a free agent in 2020 and has been a key piece of the offensive line's overall success the last three seasons. He earned his second First Team All-Pro selection of his career in 2020 and has been among the most consistent right tackles in the league since joining the Browns.
Conklin has a 67.7 overall grade from Pro Football Focus this season and a 79.8 pass-blocking grade that ranks 15th-best among tackles in the league. With Conklin clearing paths on the right side of the trenches, the Browns have averaged 147.3 rushing yards per game, which ranks fifth in the NFL. Cleveland is on pace to finish top 5 in the league in rushing for the third consecutive year.
After winning the Ed Block Courage Award, which is voted by Browns players, Conklin expressed his love for Cleveland and his hopes of continuing his career with the Browns.
"Cleveland will be my home forever," he said. "Obviously, I would like to be here for the rest of my career. We'll see what happens and how that works out. This is the place where I definitely want to be."
Conklin's 2021 season was limited to seven games due to injuries and ended in Week 12 after the torn patellar tendon injury in his knee, and he earned ample respect from his teammates for the long hours he spent at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus completing his rehab over the entire length of last offseason.
"He was always in the weight room, always in the training room, but I didn't really know him," WR Amari Cooper said. "I just saw how big he was, to be honest, and I was like, 'Who's that guy?' He was telling me who he was and what his injury was, and I definitely saw all the hard work he put in to get back."
Head coach Kevin Stefanski believed Conklin's offseason work was a testament to his toughness.
"He gives you everything he has," Stefanski said. "That award means so much because it is voted on by your teammates and by your peers so the players saw him work like crazy to get back this season. I saw it. He lived here in this building. It's the offseason, it's a weekend and it's odd hours he's in here working trying to get better. I just think it speaks to his personality and it speaks to his determination to help this football team and to play through injury. He provides great leadership for this football team. I thought the guys picked a very, very worthy person in Jack Conklin."
With Conklin extended, the Browns' current starters on the offensive line are all under contract through next season. LG Joel Bitonio and RG Wyatt Teller are each under deals through 2025, while RT Jedrick Wills Jr.'s rookie deal runs through 2023. C Nick Harris, who was expected to start this year before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the preseason, is also under contract through 2023.
