Browns owner Jimmy Haslam met with Mayor Justin Bibb this afternoon. Haslam and David Jenkins, the Browns’ chief operating officer, were seen walking into Bibb’s office at Cleveland City Hall just before 1 p.m. Monday.
Asked why he was visiting, Haslam replied, “Seeing the mayor.”
The mayor’s communications director, Sarah Johnson, told Signal Cleveland that the sit-down was part of lease negotiations and that there was “nothing final yet.”
Media stationed outside the main entrance to the mayor’s second-floor office did not see Haslam and Jenkins leaving.
The meeting comes as Cleveland tries to keep the Browns playing on the lakefront as part of a new lease. Bibb has offered to pay $461 million toward a billion-dollar renovation. The team has signaled that it would prefer to build a new, indoor stadium just over the Cleveland border in suburban Brook Park.
Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne has spoken out against a Browns’ move. He and Bibb met recently with Gov. Mike DeWine. The governor separately met with the Haslams.
Monday’s meeting comes a day after the Browns suffered a 33-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland’s at-home season opener.
