CLEVELAND — After the Cleveland Browns completed their trade to send Baker Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers, jersey No. 6 is now available on Cleveland's roster. Yet despite previously expressing a desire to wear a single digit -- and No. 6 being his jersey number in college -- second-year linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is sticking with No. 28.
At least for now.
"For everyone that wants to know: I'll be #28 this year," Owusu-Koramoah posted to his Instagram story on Tuesday.
While it's possible that Owusu-Koramoah may simply prefer his new jersey number, the reality may be that the Mayfield trade occurred too late for him to make such a switch so close to the start of the 2022 season. Per NFL rules, a player who changes his jersey number for the upcoming season is required to first buy the full lot of remaining retail jerseys of his previous number at the full retail price.
Fanatics.com currently lists two versions of Owusu-Koramoah's jersey as available for purchase, with one costing $129.99 and the other costing $159.99. Meanwhile, a player can change his jersey number free of cost by providing the league notice a year in advance, which may be a more viable option should Owusu-Koramoah ultimately opt to switch to his former digit.
As for Mayfield, it initially appeared that he would have limited options when it came to his jersey number in Carolina, with all but a couple of quarterback-eligible numbers (1-19) already spoken for. The No. 1 pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, however, revealed on Tuesday that he had made a deal with punter Johnny Hekker to purchase No. 6, which he wore during his college career at Texas Tech and Oklahoma, as well as his four-year stint in Cleveland.