What the Browns will face in the future from a salary cap and roster perspective

Despite home victories against the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cleveland Browns (3-8) obviously had a disappointing season. They’re also heading into an uncertain future, with no long-term answer at quarterback and heavy financial commitments to older players and the guy they thought would be their long-term QB, Deshaun Watson.

The Browns hoped to continue their 11-6 season in 2023 with more success, but they never reached 20 points or 300 total yards in Watson’s seven starts. Now, with Watson back on season-ending injured reserve and Jameis Winston on a one-year contract, they head into December hoping to continue playing spoilsport.

How can they get back to chasing their own playoff dreams? Just as importantly, how do you tell your friends and family about the Browns as the holidays approach? Should you prepare for a complete rebuild and sweeping changes, or could the Browns just cut some of their salary and bring back most of those responsible?

We’re here to help you be fully informed and win those important holiday arguments. Perhaps Winston can continue his current streak toward another shot at becoming a starter in the NFL next season. But if he does, he’ll demand a lot more than the $4 million base salary Cleveland is paying him this year.

Can the Browns bring Watson back for 2025? Will he be healthy after rupturing his Achilles tendon in October? Watson’s fully guaranteed contract indicates the Browns are tied to him either way, although the team will need options at the game’s most important position even if Watson recovers.

There’s little chance Cleveland will be able to trade back Watson given his struggles in 2024 and how disappointing the season has been. With Winston, the Browns are suddenly throwing the ball downfield and Jerry Jeudy is playing like the $40 million player the Browns acquired in March.

Low-key chief executive Andrew Berry said “it’s still possible” when asked if Watson could feature in plans for 2025, which was a non-answer that doubles as a pretty strong statement. The Browns gave up three first-round picks in their 2022 trade for Watson, and the lack of young, high-end talent showed up on this year’s roster. The Watson trade was a huge failure on many levels — bad enough that it’s fair to wonder whether Berry will keep his job — and Cleveland will continue to pay for it.

The Browns have always committed to paying $172 million for Watson, with the current structure calling for that sum to be spread over the next four seasons. Watson is expected to carry a cap hit of $72.9 million in 2025 and 2026, the final two years of his contract.

The team has the right to restructure Watson’s deal at any time, as it has in each of the last two years. But short of a restructuring to cut Watson in the spring or summer and increase the cap numbers for 2025-26, it would only extend the team’s financial commitment to the quarterback.

Soon, the Browns will begin making decisions about their current state, future direction and salary cap options. What they choose for their front office, quarterback, coaching staff and glaring weaknesses remains to be seen, but it’s clear this is a multi-step process that could turn into a reconstruction project over several years.

Contract details

Here’s a quick look at where the Browns stand with non-Watson contracts. All salary cap and contract numbers are from Over the Cap unless otherwise noted.

Browns starters or regular contributors eligible for unrestricted free agency in March 2025: Nick Chubb, Winston, Jedrick Wills Jr., Elijah Moore, Maurice Hurst II, Jordan Akins, Devin Bush, James Hudson III and Michael Dunn. Rodney McLeod Jr. previously announced his intention to retire. Over the Cap has the Browns with 43 players under contract for next season.

Contracts that stand out: Jack Conklin ($19.5 million, 2025 cap hit, signed through 2026), Greg Newsome II ($13.3 million on his fifth-year option), Dalvin Tomlinson (11, $5 million, signed until 2026 but guarantees paid) and Juan Thornhill ($5.7 million).

Other contracts that could be redone or moved: Joel Bitonio ($14.4 million), Wyatt Teller ($14.4 million), David Njoku ($11.8 million), Ethan Pocic ($7.8 million dollars), Jordan Hicks ($4.1 million) and Shelby Harris ($2.8 million). million). Besides Watson’s, the team’s two biggest cap numbers for 2025 are Denzel Ward’s $24.5 million and Myles Garrett’s $19.7 million.

Eligible for extension in early 2025: Martin Emerson Jr.

The ceiling situation

After the salary cap took a record jump in February from nearly $30 million per team to $255 million, it is expected to rise again in 2025. And although the Browns have long planned for annual raises, Watson is counting more of 70 million dollars in each of the two. the next two seasons are complicated to say the least. Spotrac projects the cap for 2025 at $273.3 million, and with Cleveland in line to roll over about $44 million from 2024, that would put the team around the cap at the start of 2025.

The Browns will almost certainly restructure Conklin’s contract or release him with a designation after June 1, which would free up about $16 million in cap space for 2025. Thornhill could also be cut after June 1 to stretch his remaining money .

The Browns will need to be under the cap by the start of the new league year in March and will need $14-16 million in cap space to sign their 2025 draft picks. The exact number of rookies from each team depends on how many picks are made, and Cleveland is poised to add a few late-round compensatory picks to the group that already includes an additional third-rounder for Amari Cooper and an additional fifth. and sixth-round picks.

An optimistic view would be that the Browns planned for a cap increase and used gap years and restructurings as part of their strategy. With more restructuring and just a handful of strategic cuts, they could create the space to make additions and improve certain position groups while adding young (and inexpensive) players via the draft.

A more pessimistic view would be that they currently don’t have a starting quarterback, starting running back, true No. 1 wide receiver or starting left tackle under contract for 2025, and they don’t have a lot of money to spend on those. zones or during a defensive tackle. If Wills doesn’t sign a new contract with the Browns, he will have a dead cap hit of $11.8 million next year. The offensive line and defensive line both stand out as question marks for the future.

About this week

When the Browns were shopping for 2022 quarterbacks, so were the Broncos. Denver landed Russell Wilson and completed a trade with Seattle just days before the Browns made a deal for Watson. The Seahawks traded Wilson and a fourth-round pick to Denver for two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick and three players: Noah Fant, Harris (yes, the one now with the Browns) and Drew . Lockdown.

The Browns and Broncos are opponents this week, but Denver is a 7-5 team that has already overcome its failed quarterback trade. Wilson was released in March as a key part of a roster reorganization. The Broncos started this season with 22 new players not on their 2023 roster and first-round rookie Bo Nix at quarterback.

Could Denver be a model for Cleveland in the future? Potentially, yes. The Broncos were still committed to paying $85 million for Wilson, so by releasing him, they took in a $53 million cap hit in 2024 and pushed $32 million through 2025. Yes, you read that right. The Broncos swallowed a record $85 million in dead money to cut Wilson, and the Browns have to pay more than double that amount with Watson. Even though the cap is likely to rise again and the Browns have the option to restructure their contracts in early 2025, Watson is expected to account for more than a quarter of the cap next year.

The Broncos have more than $84 million in dead money this season after also moving on from veterans Randy Gregory, Tim Patrick, Justin Simmons and Frank Clark. But Wilson’s remaining $32 million is their only current dead money charge for 2025.

The Browns are already at nearly $40 million in dead money for next year. This doesn’t take into account what ultimately happens with Wills, Conklin or any other players Cleveland has future commitments to, and it also assumes Watson is on the roster. It’s almost impossible to see Watson figure into the team’s plans, so the term “dead money” fits even if it doesn’t technically apply.

Ultimately, the Browns will have to decide how much dead money they are willing to take on in 2025 as they think about the future. By trading Cooper, they banked over $22 million in dead money for next year. By trading Za’Darius Smith, they took in about $14 million. Smith’s guarantees were only for this season, and his void years actually extended through 2028, so the trade accelerated them to next season.

In the coming weeks and months, the Browns will have to decide how they want to proceed. Perhaps a complete disassembly is not necessary, but that will be discussed. No one wants to talk about trading Garrett, but it could at least be considered for the right deal. In the unlikely event that Garrett is moved, he would represent $36 million in dead money in 2025.

With six games remaining, it remains to be seen whether the Browns will move into the top five picks in the draft or move further up the rankings. Either way, they must decide how to proceed at quarterback, left tackle and other key positions.

The all-in moves on Watson and this season have created a big mess — some of which appears fixable, and others of which loom as a long-term project.

(Top photo: Jeremy Reper / Imagn Images)