AUGUST 22: The Browns aren’t done carving out cap space. According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the Browns have restructured the contract of tight end David Njoku. The move opens up more than $2.7MM in cap space, bringing the organization close to $37MM in cap room.
AUGUST 21: The Browns have created more than $20MM in cap space in recent days, using two of their best players’ contracts to get there. Cleveland restructured Myles Garrett and Joel Bitonio‘s contracts, per cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot and ESPN.com’s Field Yates.
Cleveland’s Bitonio move created $7.9MM in cap space; the Garrett restructure opened up $12.9MM. These moves return the Browns to the top spot in NFL cap space, a place they resided throughout the 2022 season. Cleveland used cap carryover and a Deshaun Watson restructure to reach this point as well.
[RELATED: Assessing Browns’ 2023 Offseason]
Garrett signed a then-record-setting $25MM-per-year extension during the 2020 offseason. Doing so tied the former No. 1 overall pick to the Browns through the 2026 season. Given Garrett’s performance level, it would not surprise to see the parties huddle up about another extension. For now, however, Garrett is attached to a deal that has been passed over by two edge rushers (T.J. Watt, Joey Bosa) and is about to be eclipsed by the 49ers’ forthcoming Nick Bosa extension.
Bitonio is on his third Browns contract, having agreed to a three-year, $48MM extension during the 2021 season. The Browns locked down both their starting guards — Bitonio and Wyatt Teller — in the same week two years ago. Bitonio, 31, is signed through the 2024 season. He has been the Browns’ longest-tenured player for a bit now. The Browns used void years to slash Bitonio’s 2023 cap hit from $14.6MM to $6.7MM, with four such years now present in the contract. It would not surprise if Garrett’s deal, which presently includes no void years, will soon have those present as well.
The Browns now have more than $35MM in cap space; no other team holds more than $23MM. It will be interesting to monitor how the team goes about its late-summer plans now that it added more than $20MM in cap room. Cleveland’s most notable adjustment came in March, when a restructure dropped Watson’s would-be record-setting figure ($54.9MM) to $19.1MM. While only one void year is present in the quarterback’s landmark deal, the contract’s 2024-26 cap hits each ballooned to $63.9MM.
They have to restructure everyone’s contracts in order to pay all the has beens and never weres that were signed to one year contracts. The balloon payment is going to be due soon and these guys are in deep do-do
Desperate moves for a desperate franchise.