Browns rookie cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu was drafted in the seventh round last May and is spending his rookie season on the non-football injury list.
Ekrpe-Olomu, projected by many to be a first-round pick, was injured last December in a University of Oregon practice, and a CBS report Friday said Ekpre-Olomu is close to collecting a $3 million loss of draft value insurance policy.
Keith Lerner, head of Total Planning Sports Services, told CBS that Ekpre-Olomu will become the first player to cash in on the policy.
“His hope is that he is going to come back and play,” Lerner said. “Hopefully he’ll come back and have a great career.”
Loss of draft value claims are paid if a player slips one round lower than projected previously by a panel of draft experts. The Browns selected Ekpre-Olomu with the 241st pick.
Total Planning Sports Services underwrote the policy for Lloyd’s of London. Oregon paid the injury and/or loss of value insurance premiums for several players last year, including Ekpre-Olomu and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota. Colleges paying for such insurance is legal under NCAA bylaws.
Lerner said premiums typically cost $8,000 per $1 million of insurance.
Many top college players are taking out such policies. Cedric Ogbuehi took out a loss of value policy that Texas A&M paid for, but he won’t collect because the Bengals took the offensive tackle in the first round in 2015 despite a knee injury last December.
