The Cleveland Browns agreed to a deal early this morning with second-round outside linebacker David Veikune, according to a league source.
Per our source, the negotiating impasse was resolved when Veikune was given a skill, injury and salary-cap guarantee in the contract.
Not every second-round deal has included that kind of financial protection.
“The most important component to getting this deal done was to include a skill, injury and cap guarantee,” said Kenny Zuckerman, Veikune’s agent. “Any agent that has a second-round pick would be negligent to not have this in their deal. There is too much money at risk.”
UPDATE: Veikune received just over $1.75 million in guaranteed money and just under $1.4 million for his signing bonus. The total value of the deal is just over $3.5 million.
The 6'2,” 257-pounder is expected to report at some point today.
The Veikune deal leaves the Browns with two unsigned second-round draft picks: wide receivers Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi.
In three seasons at the University of Hawaii, Veikune registered 118 tackles, 29 tackles for losses and 18 sacks.
Last season, Veikune recorded 73 tackles, 16.5 tackles for losses and nine sacks and was named second-team All-Western Athletic Conference.