CLEVELAND -- It's no secret Chad Johnson has maintained a close relationship with his former coach, Hue Jackson. And now the artist formerly known as Ochocinco is claiming to have inside info when it comes to Jackson's current team.
As he is wont to do, Johnson caused a stir on social media on Thursday when he tweeted that the Cleveland Browns would land free agent-to-be Kirk Cousins this offseason. Johnson didn't present the post as an opinion, but rather a fact, stating "I said it first."
There has been a lot of smoke lately regarding the prospect of Cousins coming to Cleveland. On the latest edition of 'The ThomaHawk Show' podcast, Browns left tackle Joe Thomas proclaimed Cleveland the front-runner to land the Washington Redskins quarterback, who is slated to become a free agent this offseason.
According to Thomas, while other teams might be more attractive from a competitive standpoint, the Browns' projected $110 million in cap space could give them an unbeatable advantage.
"My Nostradamus prediction is coming true. This just puts the Browns one step closer to signing Kirk Cousins," Thomas said, referring to the Redskins' agreed-upon trade to acquire Alex Smith from the Kansas City Chiefs. "This makes it easy because now the Redskins won't franchise [tag] him and it'll become a bidding war.
"There's maybe five or six teams that it looks like probably are going to bid for Kirk Cousins. The Browns currently have over $118 million in cap space, so clearly they have the most money. I think they also have the most desire to turn things around quickly with a veteran quarterback that has experience in the NFL like Kirk Cousins.
"So even though the Browns will probably be bidding against the Jets, the Broncos, maybe the Jaguars, the Bills and the Cardinals, I think they're definitely, in my opinion, the front-runners to get Kirk Cousins."
As Thomas mentions, the Browns will have plenty of competition when it comes to the race for Cousins' services. But Thomas' comments could only be viewed as encouraging for Cleveland's chances of landing Cousins -- and Johnson's tweet would suggest it might even already be a done deal.
