CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns claim that former coach Hue Jackson’s and an associate suggested that he was paid by his team to lose games.

Jackson is now coaching Grambling and made several tweets on Twitter inferring that he was paid bonus payments by Jimmy Haslam, Browns owner, during his two-plus seasons as a member of the team.

Jackson’s claims were strongly denied by the Browns.

Peter Jean-Baptiste, a team spokesperson, stated that “the recent comments made by Hue Jackson or his representatives regarding his tenure as head coach” in a statement. “Any accusation that any of our employees were incentivized or paid to lose deliberately is categorically false.”

Jackson was fired just eight games into the 2018 season. He was 3-36-1 with Cleveland and lost all 16 of his 2017 games.

Jackson implied that the Browns had paid him to lose by offering his support to Brian Flores, former Miami coach.

Jackson responded to Flores’ tweet that Haslam didn’t offer him $100,000 per loss. He wrote that Haslam was “happy while we kept losing” but “trust me it wasn’t a bad number.”

Kimberly Diemert is the executive director of Hue Jackson Foundation. She claimed that Jackson was offered by the Browns and that records from them will be helpful to Flores.

Jackson did not respond immediately to messages from the AP.

On Wednesday, Diemert tweeted again to claim she has proof that Jackson is lying and to state that Flores and he are benefiting others.

She wrote, “Fighting to make the world a better place is what matters most.” Both of these men were fighting the right fight. The facts are known by those who understand the battle. Strategic thinking is essential to win the war.

After serving as Cincinnati’s offensive coordination coordinator, Jackson was hired by Browns in 2016. Sashi Browns, general manager of the Browns, was very aggressive in trying to get draft picks.

Jackson’s first season saw the Browns go 1-15. They also won the No. The Browns selected Myles Garrett as the No. 1 overall pick. He has since become one of the best players in the league. Before taking Baker Mayfield, the quarterback of Cleveland, with the top pick, Cleveland was 0-16.

Jackson was fired in 2018 after the Browns began 2-5-1.