Browns Look Toward Future and Sign Miller to New Deal

Jamir Miller sees a time when the Cleveland Browns will be winners instead of winless. The Browns looked at Miller and saw the linebacker they want to anchor their defense.

The result was that Miller and the Browns agreed Friday to a four-year contract extension worth about $18.3 million, including $6 million in bonuses.

Miller, a first-round draft pick from UCLA in 1994, originally signed a one-year deal with Cleveland in May after five years with the Arizona Cardinals.

The pact means the expansion Browns can count on featuring Miller as they build their defense. While the unit has struggled as the team has gone 0-7, it also has kept the Browns in several games despite an offense averaging about seven points a game.

Miller has 69 tackles and has stood out as the team’s defensive leader, although he will miss Sunday’s game against New Orleans with a separated shoulder. He is hoping to return to the lineup for Cleveland’s Nov. 7 game with Baltimore.

Miller, 25, came to Cleveland after turning down an offer from Arizona and attracting little interest on the free agent market, perhaps because of two previous violations of the league’s substance abuse policy. He was suspended four games in 1995 after the second violation.

“I’m just happy that they decided to build the defense around me,” Miller said, flashing a big smile. “It’s cool.”

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Denver Bronco defensive end Cyron Brown was suspended by the NFL for the next four regular-season games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Brown, who joined the Broncos as a rookie free agent last year, will be eligible to return to the active roster on Nov. 23, the day after the game against the Oakland Raiders.

Bronco spokesman Jim Saccomano said he did not know what Brown did to violate the policy. Brown is the first Bronco to violate the policy, he said.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello would not comment on why Brown was suspended. The information is confidential under the players’ union contract, he said.

NFL players are required to undergo random drug testing and a suspension usually means a player has failed three drug tests.

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The St. Louis Rams had planned to use electronic earplugs to drown out crowd noise Sunday at the Tennessee Titans’ stadium, but the NFL says that violates league rules.

The Titans notified the NFL after seeing an item on the Internet about Ram Coach Dick Vermeil’s plans for offensive linemen to wear the earplugs that can be set to drown out all noise except the voice of quarterback Kurt Warner.

“I didn’t know there was a rule against it,” Vermeil said. “I thought innovation was a part of the game.”

The NFL bars use of any electronic device on the field, with the exception of a coach-to-quarterback communication system.

The sold-out stadium, which seats 67,000, will be the largest crowd the Rams have played in front of on the road this season.

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San Diego Charger defensive end Raylee Johnson signed a five-year contract extension through 2004 that reportedly averages $3.1 million a year.

“I can sleep a little easier at night now. I’m overwhelmed,” said Johnson, who’s in the final year of a three-year contract he signed before the 1997 season. That deal, which included a $1.7-million signing bonus, averages $1.5 million a season.