National Football League

Yount gets new deal from rebuilding Browns

Published Aug. 7, 2013 12:51 a.m. ET

foxsports

Browns long snapper Christian Yount agreed to a five-year contract Tuesday that will keep him in Cleveland through 2017.

Yount, 25, is in his third year with the Browns and has played in all 21 games since being signed Nov. 29, 2011.

''I'm blessed to be here, and I'm excited to be a Brown for as long as they'll have me,'' Yount said following practice. ''My agent told me the team wanted to work something out a little bit ago, and I'm really happy we got it done.''

The 6-foot-1, 256-pounder is the lone holdover among Cleveland's specialists as it did not re-sign Pro Bowl kicker Phil Dawson, punter Reggie Hodges, kick returner Joshua Cribbs or coverage ace Ray Ventrone.

''At that position, you have to be perfect, and Christian is very good at what he does,'' coach Rob Chudzinski said. ''I'm happy we're going to have him as a part of our organization for a long time.''

Yount went undrafted in 2011 after a four-year career at UCLA, where he served as the long snapper in 51 games. He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and played in seven contests before being released when Andrew Economos was activated.

Exactly five weeks later, Yount replaced Ryan Pontbriand as the Browns' long snapper.

''I understand this is a business, so you can't take anything personal when a team decides to go in another direction,'' he said. ''But I'm not going to lie, this is something I really wanted to happen. I'm grateful that it did.''

Yount joins starting left guard John Greco in agreeing to five-year contracts with Cleveland this summer, preventing them from becoming free agents at the end of the season.

Former Pro Bowl center Alex Mack and starting strong safety T.J. Ward are also in the final year of their contracts with the Browns.