Browns ink former division rival Lewis
Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Jamal Lewis, who has spent his entire career haunting the Cleveland Browns and their faithful twice a year as a Baltimore Raven, has signed a one-year contract with the Browns, the team announced Wednesday night.
Lewis was released last week by the Ravens.
The 27-year-old Lewis is best remembered by those in Cleveland for his 295- yard game in 2003, which still stands as the NFL record for rushing yards in a game. Lewis, who has spent all of his seven years in the league with Baltimore, rushed for 1,132 yards on 314 carries last season with nine touchdowns.
Lewis and newly signed offensive lineman Eric Steinbach will look to add some power to a Browns rushing attack that ranked last in the NFL in 2006. Lewis has amassed 7,801 yards on 1,822 career attempts, highlighted by his 2003 season. His record-setting game against the Browns that season was part of a 2,066-yard campaign in which he scored a career-high 14 times.
Lewis has missed 1,000 yards rushing in only two of his seven seasons - in 2001 after a torn ACL in training camp caused him to miss the season, and in 2005, when he finished with 906 yards on 269 carries.
The former Tennessee Volunteer has seen a decline in productivity since the 2004 season. Lewis pled guilty to involvement in a drug deal that offseason, and was incarcerated as a result. His yards per carry, which were 4.4, 4.3, 5.3, and 4.3 in his first four full seasons, have fallen off to 3.4 and 3.6 in the past two seasons.