Mychal Kendricks (L) with LeGarrette Blount in August 2017. Aug 24, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks (95) reacts with running back LeGarrette Blount (29) after his touchdown interception against the Miami Dolphins during the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

It’s not every day you see a player go on Twitter to directly refute a report about their free agency destination, but that happened Sunday with Mychal Kendricks. The 27-year-old linebacker (#95 above) had been with the Philadelphia Eagles since they picked him in the second round of the 2012 NFL draft, and he won the Super Bowl with them this year, but received less playing time than he was used to and was cut last month. He’s since visited with the Raiders, Browns and Vikings, and while reports emerged Sunday that he’d chosen a destination, Kendricks responded with a “Not so fast.”

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted Sunday that the Browns “are signing” Kendricks according to sources, and Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer added confirmation that it “should be done by tomorrow.” But it sounds like it isn’t done at this point. Kendricks fired back at Rapoport in an interview with a Minnesota-based reporter, and then took a shot at Rapoport himself on Twitter:

That’s a much stronger response than we usually see from a player to a reporter, and it’s pretty unusual to see something refuted this way. It’s possible that both Rapoport and Cabot learned this from a team source or sources that thought the deal was done when it actually wasn’t, but it definitely sounds like Kendricks doesn’t think a deal is set at this point. We’ll see what comes of this.

[Pro Football Talk]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.