CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
After signing one of the best guards in football to an extension on Tuesday, the Cleveland Browns have agreed to terms with another. On Wednesday, the Browns announced that they have signed their longest-tenured player, left guard Joel Bitonio, to a three-year contract extension.
News of Cleveland signing Bitonio to an extension comes one day after the Browns agreed to a four-year extension with their starting right guard, Wyatt Teller. A 2020 second-team All-Pro selection, Teller's extension -- a four-year, $56.8 million contract with $28 million guaranteed -- gives him the third-highest average annual salary for any player at his position.
Originally selected out of Nevada in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft, Bitonio had just one year remaining on the six-year, $56.1 million extension he signed with Cleveland in 2017. In his eight seasons with the Browns, the 30-year-old has been a mainstay at left guard for the franchise, starting in 104 of a possible 121 games while earning three consecutive second-team All-Pro selections and three Pro Bowl honors from 2018-2020.
"I've been here for eight years now and seen a lot of ups and downs. To be part of that and for the team to have faith in me and allow me to be here for my entire career, it really means a lot. It's special," Bitonio said in a statement. "You see guys switch teams a lot and go from team to team, great players in this league. I saw Joe Thomas end his career here. It's something when you get into Year 8 and Year 9, it gets in the back of your mind where it'd be really special to be in Cleveland your whole career and try to win a championship with these guys."
Through the first nine games of the 2021 campaign, Bitonio ranks as the NFL's third-best guard behind Zack Martin of the Dallas Cowboys and Teller, according to Pro Football Focus. With their new deals, Bitonio and Teller will both remain under contract in Cleveland through the 2025 season.
Bitonio's new contract with the Browns marks the third extension that Cleveland has signed since the end of the 2020 season. In August, the Browns and two-time Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb agreed to a three-year, $36.6 million contract with $20 million guaranteed.