Cleveland Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.
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Cleveland Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.
It increasingly appears that Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has played his final snap for the Cleveland Browns, a direction many around the league have long anticipated for the former star linebacker.
Owusu-Koramoah has not played since a violent collision in October 2024. He was carted off the field and ultimately missed the remainder of the season, then all of 2025, with a neck injury.
Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported this offseason that “it’s doubtful at best that he’ll ever make it back to the playing field.”
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah Pursuing New Goal
The team’s latest announcement casts further doubt on whether Owusu-Koramoah will return to the field. The Browns announced that he has officially been accepted into the Harvard Kennedy School to pursue a master’s degree in public policy.
Owusu-Koramoah reflected on his journey in the essay he submitted with his application.
“My season trajectory was aimed to lead my team to a Super Bowl, and to break the Cleveland Browns’ record for tackles for loss,” Owusu-Koramoah said. “In one hit, the pursuit disappeared. In the hospital, doctors told me that the injury would possibly be career ending. The fear was real, but instead of sinking into depression, I reflected on what had already been meaningful to me. Recovery forced me to face a question that I had long avoided. If football ends tomorrow, how then will I be defined?”
Browns Commended for Supporting Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
Browns general manager Andrew Berry did not provide a positive update on Owusu-Koramoah when asked about his potential return earlier this offseason.
“I’d say this: We are dealing with Jeremiah from month to month,” Berry said at the NFL scouting combine. “I’m not necessarily overly optimistic, but there isn’t a hard deadline where we have to make some type of binding decision.”
Owusu-Koramoah under contract with the Browns through the 2027 season. He signed a three-year extension with the Browns in August 2024 worth $12.5 million per year, with $20 million fully guaranteed at signing. He has $11.031 million of his salary guaranteed for 2026. The Browns have publicly supported Owusu-Koramoah, despite the uncertainty around his path forward.
“He’s a linebacker, and he’s putting his upper body and neck into hits at car-collision type speeds,” Garrett Bush said on The Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, reinforcing the thought that Owusu-Koramoah is done with football. “I commend the Cleveland Browns. They stood by him. I think they’re doing the right thing by him, making sure that he’s set up financially, where he has enough money and knows this is pretty much it. I think maybe they are setting him up for a spot in the organization where he’s doing other things.”
Jason Lloyd of The Athletic chimed in with a similar sentiment.
“It was a scary, scary injury. Take the win. You are still upright, functioning and mobile,” Lloyd said. “Go live your life and live a wonderful life.”
The Browns have planned to not have Owusu-Koramoah. Reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Carson Schwesinger will anchor the linebacking unit. The team also signed veteran Quincy Williams in free agency.