Winslow in camp and he’s positive

The tight end’s contract is an issue, but it won’t dissuade the Pro Bowler from participating in camp.

BEREA (AP) — Kellen Winslow could be home resting or relaxing on a beach in California with a cold drink as his teammates sweat through grueling two-a-day practices.

If he desired, the Pro Bowl tight end, who wants the Cleveland Browns to tear up his contract which still has three years left, could be just about anywhere but training camp.

Instead, Winslow is where he’s happiest — on the field.

“My job,” Winslow said Thursday following the team’s first workout in full pads, “is to just be out here and play football. I don’t want to be a distraction.”

For a while, that’s all he was.

Winslow, who came to the NFL with a fiery reputation, missed 14 games as a rookie in 2004 after breaking his leg. He was then sidelined for all the next season following a near-fatal motorcycle accident. But in the past two years, the 25-year-old has become one of the game’s top tight ends, fulfilling the promise that the Hall of Famer’s son always had.

However, until he arrived at camp this week, there was concern that Winslow would have a negative impact on the Browns even before their 2008 season kicked off.

Not long after making the Pro Bowl, Winslow hired agent Drew Rosenhaus and made it known he wanted to be the league’s highest paid tight end. Then, Winslow had surgery — at least his fourth procedure — on his right knee, which he wrecked in the crash and later became infected.

In April, the Browns traded a draft pick to select a tight end as a possible successor for Winslow, who then missed the Browns’ voluntary practices in May and June. A contract holdout seemed imminent. Trouble, it seemed, was brewing.

This time, Winslow stiff-armed it. He’s a happy camper.

“I’m sure [the media] thought I wasn’t coming, but I’m not that type of guy,” Winslow said. “I don’t want to be a distraction. My job is to just help this team win and come out here and play to the best of my ability.”

Rosenhaus has engaged in negotiations with the Browns. He characterized the talks as a “dialogue with the team. Nothing is imminent and we’re at a very preliminary point.” He has spoken with general manager Phil Savage and plans to visit Cleveland soon.

In the past, Rosenhaus has kept clients out of camp until they got paid. But he and Winslow decided not to use a contract holdout as leverage with the Browns.

“There is a sense of urgency on our end,” Rosenhaus told the Associated Press. “Kellen and I have discussed it and we decided to take the high road and handle it professionally. There will be no holding out and there will be nothing that will keep Kellen off the field.”

While not providing specifics on what he’s seeking from the team, Rosenhaus did describe Winslow’s rookie contract as “outdated.”