The McCourty twins are back together.The Cleveland Browns traded cornerback Jason McCourty to the New England Patriots on Thursday
http://www.steelersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-mason-rudolph-jersey , reuniting him with his brother Devin. The Browns also sent a seventh-round pick
to the Patriots to get a sixth-rounder in return.
"Cleveland it's been real!" Jason McCourty wrote on the Twitter account the brothers share. "I wish nothing but the best to the guys in that locker
room!"
The Browns have been one of the most active teams in the NFL this offseason as they try to rebuild from last season's 0-16 record. They have already traded
for quarterback Tyrod Taylor and three-time Pro Bowl receiver Jarvis Landry,
while signing seven free agents, including running back Carlos Hyde.
They also made a deal on Wednesday to send defensive lineman Danny Shelton to New England for a third-round pick in 2019. But the defending AFC champion
Patriots have mostly been losing players, including receiver Danny Amendola,
left tackle Nate Solder, defensive back Malcolm Butler and running back Dion
Lewis.
After spending his first eight seasons with Tennessee, Jason McCourty, 30, started 14 games and led the Browns with three interceptions and made 65 tackles
last season, the most for any player in the secondary.
He became a locker room leader, but also ruffled feathers by saying the team never should have gone winless after both coach Hue Jackson and new general
manager John Dorsey bemoaned the team's lack of talent.
"The talent in this locker room is not the talent to go win a Super Bowl this year
Cheap Jason McCourty Jersey , but this locker room is far more talented than 0-16," Jason McCourty said following the season-ending loss in
Pittsburgh.
"I'm kind of tired of hearing so many people say, even within the organization, is we don't have the guys or we need more guys. Let's work with
the guys we do have and find ways to win games."
Also Thursday, the Patriots re-signed running back Rex Burkhead. A 2013 sixth-round draft pick who spent his first four seasons with the Bengals,
Burkhead has run for 639 yards and eight touchdowns and caught 64 passes for 542
yards and four touchdowns in his career.
Russ Brandon abruptly resigned his dual role as president of the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL's Buffalo Sabres after
being confronted by the teams' owners regarding an alleged inappropriate
relationship with a female employee, two people with direct knowledge of the
situation told The Associated Press.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is an internal matter, and owners Terry and Kim Pegula did not provide a reason for accepting
Brandon's resignation in a statement they released Tuesday.
The relationship in question first became apparent to a number of team employees during the Sabres' visit to New York for a game against the Rangers on
Jan. 18, the people said. The trip included the team hosting a fan event at a
bar the day before the game.
Kim Pegula will take over Brandon's roles overseeing the Bills, Sabres and Pegula Sports Entertainment, the company which controls the owners' numerous
holdings.
In a text to The AP
Cheap Mason Rudolph Jersey , Brandon said he has contemplated stepping down from the job for some time, and felt the timing was right after the
conclusion of the NFL draft.
"My goal when the Pegulas purchased the franchise was to reach 20 years with the Bills, in which I achieved this past November," Brandon wrote.
"As grateful as I am for the amazing experience and the incredible people I've had the privilege to work with the past two decades, I am just as anxious
for the professional opportunities that lie ahead," he added.
Brandon did not respond to follow-up questions regarding his relationship.
Brandon's departure comes after the Bills made a big splash in the first round of the draft by trading up to select both Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen
with the seventh pick, and Virginia Tech linebacker Tremaine Edmunds with the
16th pick. The new additions join a Bills team that went 9-7 and ended a 17-year
playoff drought last season.
On Saturday, the last-place Sabres earned a boost by winning the NHL draft lottery and the right to the No. 1 pick for the third time in franchise
history.
"We have a tremendous amount of confidence in the strong leadership team we have built within each of these entities over the last several years," the
statement from the Pegulas read.
"We are excited about the direction of our teams, especially after this past weekend's NFL draft and NHL lottery results. Our focus remains on building
championship teams on and off the field for our fans and community."
Brandon most recently served as the Bills' managing partner, was the Sabres alternate on the NHL's board of governors and a member of the NFL's business
ventures committee.
The timing of Brandon's exit comes at a time he was supposed to oversee the Bills' next big venture in determining their future home. Brandon was expected
to lead the team's stadium search committee in deciding whether the Bills should
continue playing at their current home or develop a new facility in downtown
Buffalo.
He served in various roles with the Bills
Cheap Kentavius Street Jersey , involving both marketing and football decisions during a two-year stint as general manager from 2008-09.
He also took the lead in negotiating the Bills' most recent lease five years ago, which played a critical role in securing the franchise's long-term future
in Buffalo especially following Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson's death in March
2014.
The lease included a strict non-relocation clause that included a $400 million penalty the team would be forced to pay if it considered moving before
2020.
Brandon also oversaw the Bills' eventual sale to the Pegulas, who completed their $1.4 billion purchase of the franchise in October 2014.
The Pegulas retained Brandon and elevated him to the role of managing partner. The Pegulas thought so highly of Brandon, the Sabres were added to his
responsibilities after the team reached a mutual agreement to part ways with Ted
Black in July 2015.
Brandon's resignation continues a large turnover of Bills executives who served under Wilson. Bruce Popko is the senior holdover and now becomes the top
executive as chief operating officer of Buffalo-based Pegula Sports and
Entertainment, which oversees the Pegulas' numerous holdings.
Brandon grew up in nearby Syracuse, New York, and began making his mark in Buffalo shortly after being hired by the Bills in 1997 to serve as the team's
business development and marketing director.
He began by spearheading a campaign to transform them into a regional team by expanding the franchise's fan base to offset Buffalo's dropping population
base.
That process began in 2000, when the team shifted training camp to Brandon's alma mater, St. John Fisher College in suburban Rochester, to capitalize on the
community's corporate and larger population base.
Later, the Bills boosted their presence across southern Ontario by negotiating a deal to begin playing annual regular-season games in Toronto
starting in 2008. The "Bills In Toronto" series lasted through 2013 before the
deal was placed on hold the following year and then terminated by the
Pegulas.
Toronto-based media giant
Cheap Customized Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys , Rogers Communications, paid the Bills $78 million to essentially lease eight games (five regular season and three
preseason) during the initial five-year agreement. The price was almost double
what the Bills were projected to generate if those games were played at their
home facility.
The series also spurred a large bump in season-ticket purchases from across the border. By 2015, the Bills estimated southern Ontario fans accounted for
about 18 percent of their season-ticket sales, surpassing their support from
Rochester.
Not everything succeeded under Brandon, who drew criticism for a number of decisions, including failing to build a winner during his two-year stint as the
Bills GM when Wilson elected to promote from within the organization after Marv
Levy stepped down following a two-.
