Browns to tell Winslow he breached contract

Updated: June 14, 2005, 12:35 AM ET

Motorcycling was specially prohibited in his rookie contract with the Browns.

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By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
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Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow will undergo Tuesday surgery to repair the right knee injury he sustained earlier this offseason in a motorcycle accident and team officials expect the 2004 first-round choice to be available for the 2006 season.

Surgeons will repair a torn right anterior cruciate ligament but team officials said that, despite speculation to the contrary, there was no further damage to Winslow's right knee. Winslow told the Akron Beacon Journal that he also lacerated his liver and kidney, bruised his right shoulder and cracked a bone in his upper right leg in the crash; however, the knee injury is the only one that hasn't healed.

"Hopefully he'll have a good repair," Browns coach Romeo Crennel told The Associated Press, "and we'll get him back on the field at some point, whenever that is."

Wearing a brace on his knee and a backward Cleveland Indians cap, Winslow watched intently from the sideline as the Browns practiced. As he walked off the field, Winslow said, "I'm all right. Thanks." Winslow had already acknowledged, in a public statement to the Browns and their fans, he will miss the entire 2005 campaign.

Based on his experience with other players, Crennel said Winslow will likely need nine months to recover from the operation. At the time of his accident, Winslow was still rehabbing a broken right ankle that he suffered in his second game as a rookie.

"He is back to square one," Crennel said. "He'll be where he was last year, having to rehab an injury. Hopefully at this time next year he'll be back on the field. Hopefully we'll have a player then."

The former University of Miami star, the fifth overall choice in the 2004 draft, broke his right ankle last year in the final seconds of a game at Dallas while attempting to recover an onside kick. Winslow finished the year with just five receptions.

Sources said the Browns will officially apprise Winslow this week, in writing, that he has breached his rookie contract. ESPN.com reported last month the Browns will attempt to recover a portion of the bonus money already paid Winslow and will withhold some future payments. Sources said Monday, though, that the team will not immediately take that step.

Winslow's contract stipulated he could not participate in potentially "hazardous activities" in the offseason and specifically cited motorcycling as one of the several activities not permitted.

"I'm grown. I still have to live my life," Winslow told the Beacon Journal. "I did know the circumstances behind it, but I'm still learning. I'm young. You think you're invincible. You think nothing's going to happen to you. It was a mistake."

The Browns began a three-day mini-camp on Monday morning. It marked the first mandatory session at which Winslow could not take part because of the knee injury, and that means the Browns were deprived of his services at a mandatory team function. His absence essentially provided the Browns the option to take action against him for breach of contract.

"You know, I am sorry for what I've done," he told the Beacon Journal. "A lot of people have motorcycles, but since I got hurt, I'm sorry."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. To check out Len's chat archive, click here .