Browns label story of franchise swap with Titans '100 percent false'
Cleveland-area media were meeting with Browns GM Ray Farmer about several topics – including being more transparent in commenting on news stories – when the club found itself in the position of having to quash the latest rumor surrounding the team.
CBSSports’ Jason LaCanfora, a nemesis of the franchise for over a year, floated the possibility of Browns owner Jimmy Haslam in effect trading the Browns to acquire the Tennessee Titans.
A potential sale of the Titans since the passing of owner Bud Adams in October of 2013 has been consistently denied by the franchise.
If it were just LaCanfora’s speculation at work – proposing a franchise swap, which was last seen when Robert Irsay purchased the Los Angeles Rams in 1972 and then traded them for the Baltimore Colts -- the Browns would have ignored the column.
But LaCanfora wrote that “several highly-placed sources have suggested there might be backroom talks of a potential franchise swap with the Browns.”
And he quoted “one source who deals directly with many ownership groups” as saying, “Don't ignore the possibility of a swap with the Browns when that time comes.”
After a few texting communications with Haslam, a Browns spokesman responded: “It is 100 percent false. There’s no truth to the careless speculation from this reporter.”
Haslam completed a purchase of the Browns from the Lerner Family Trust in October of 2012. The sales price was $1.005 billion.