Jake Paul signs contract with NFL franchise Cleveland Browns

Jake Paul has signed a contract with the Cleveland Browns, joining the NFL franchise’s social-media team per a tongue-in-cheek video.

Paul has made his name as a YouTuber over the past decade, but his main focus over the last three years has been on boxing.

The American, 25, has competed professionally in the boxing ring six times and is unbeaten, winning four of those fights via knockout. Paul has defeated former UFC champions Anderson Silva and Tyron Woodley, among others.

Now, however, the Cleveland native has signed a contract with his home NFL franchise, the Cleveland Browns.

A video on the YouTuber’s social-media platforms on Friday (23 December) showed him standing next to the Browns’ executive vice president JW Johnson, who was holding a “J Paul, 00” jersey.

“Excited to be on the team,” wrote Paul, who had previously shared a short video of himself on a video call with Johnson.

“This is a dream come true,” said Paul, who added: “I won’t let you down.”

“We’re fired up,” replied Johnson. “Excited to have you be a part of the team [...] We’ll get it all signed up, we’ll have a nice little day. Hopefully your family will be here, and it’ll be quite the experience for sure.”

After the video call ends, Paul tells the person filming: “I’m in the NFL, what??”

Then, in an official post on the Browns’ Instagram channel, Paul could be seen signing a contract to become the franchise’s ‘junior associate content assistant’, after pretending to believe that he was present to sign on as a player.