Navigating the 2024 Salary Cap: Browns
While the Browns don't need do a lot of work to become cap compliant next season, they don't have a lot of options available to do that.
The Cleveland Browns made headlines in the 2022 NFL offseason after they acquired quarterback DeShaun Watson in a trade, complete with giving Watson a five-year, fully guaranteed contract for $230M.
The contract in question came after Watson, who was listening to pitches from multiple teams, originally ruled out the Browns, but reversed his decision when the Browns made the ultimate “all in” move.
Watson now enters the second year of that contract, which the Browns restructured this year to include a void year in 2027 for cap purposes. The Browns did a lot of other contract restructures this season, too, and have $33.8M in cap space.
However, things get a bit tricky next season because the Browns are projected to be slightly above the cap (assuming a base cap of $256M) once they get 51 players under contract (they currently have 44 for 2024). And given the maneuvers they made in 2023, it's going to be harder to restructure certain deals for various reasons.
I'm going to look at each of the Browns players (other than Watson) with large cap numbers and consider what options the Browns have.
Myles Garrett ($20.2M cap hit): He's due a $19M option bonus, which gets treated like a signing bonus once exercised. That leaves Garrett with a $1.2M base salary and $3.8M in other bonuses (most likely variants of roster bonuses) and no other means to restructure his deal. There's nothing the Browns can do here.
Amari Cooper ($23.8M cap hit): When the Browns acquired Cooper in a 2022 trade, they restructured his contract for cap space and added two void years. He enters the final year of his deal and can be cut with $12.4M in cap savings. The Browns could consider cutting him for cap relief, though he's played well this season.
Nick Chubb ($16.2M cap hit): Chubb's season ended because of injuries and cutting him would give the Browns $12.2M in cap relief. He has no guaranteed money left and no roster bonus that kicks in, so the Browns could wait until he can pass a physical and not have to pay him an injury settlement.
Denzel Ward ($23.6M cap hit): The Browns can only cut Ward via the post-June 1 designation. The motivation would be to prevent $12.45M of his 2025 salary becoming fully guaranteed. It doesn't make sense to cut him, though, even with his recent injury. But the Browns could restructure his deal for cap relief without much trouble.
Jack Conklin ($13M cap hit): Conklin's season ended because of a ruptured patellar tendon. HIs $5.5M salary in 2024 is fully guaranteed, along with a $10M option bonus. That option bonus means there's no way for the Browns to restructure his deal for cap relief.
Joel Bitonio ($12.1M cap hit): Bitonio has a $3M roster bonus due on March 20. Restructuring that into a signing bonus won't do much to provide cap relief. Cutting him frees $3.4M in cap space.
Wyatt Teller ($11.6M cap hit): Teller's contract got restructured this season so there's no way for the Browns to get any more cap relief. He has $3M in bonuses due but a restructure of those won't do much.
Jedrick Wills ($14.6M cap hit): Wills enters the fifth-year option of his first-round draft pick contract. The Browns already restructured his contract this year and added three void years for cap purposes. He's currently on injured reserve but might return later this season. An extension would lower his cap number but the Browns have to ask themselves if he's worth it.
David Njoku ($9.6M cap hit): The Browns already restructured his deal to convert some of his salary into a bonus. He's now due a $1.21M base salary but the restructure bumped up his cap hit. The Browns can't get any relief here.
As you can see, the Browns have few options but, given that they are in "win now" mode after what they paid Watson, they have to ask themselves if it's worth moving on from certain players. Free agency isn't really an option because their cap situation doesn't allow for them to be aggressive there.
The best option the Browns may have at the start of the offseason is to restructure Ward's contract. After that, they can figure out if they would rather cut Chubb right away or wait until after the draft. If they think they can find a better option among free agent wide receivers, they could move on from Cooper.
Otherwise, the Browns need to leave contracts alone. The Wills injury makes it harder to justify extending him to lower his cap number and the other contracts I've mentioned can't be redone for much cap relief.
As for Watson's contract, another restructure shouldn't be considered. His cap hits are already at $64M for the next three seasons. While the cap is expected to jump now that the "borrowing" tactic agreed to amid the COVID pandemic will end, the Browns don't want to make Watson's future cap hits any higher. That's particularly true given that Watson, thus far, has not lived up to expectations.
Because the Browns can't get out of the Watson deal unless he retires, they need to ride it out with his contract and do the best they can otherwise.
Next time, I'll look at the Pittsburgh Steelers.