Coming into the final year of his rookie contract, Browns offensive tackle Dawand Jones has agreed to a pay cut in a restructured deal proposed by the team. Jones was originally due to receive $3.67MM in 2026, though none of it was guaranteed. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, he is now set to play for $1.5MM this year with $1.15MM guaranteed. The Browns get some cap relief, and Jones gets some guaranteed money.
As a rookie fourth-round pick in 2023, Jones was forced into a starting role very early when starting right tackle Jack Conklin went down with a season-ending injury in Week 1. As he grew more comfortable in the role, Jones showed some inspired play as a rookie starter, giving hope that Cleveland had found a diamond in the Day 3 rough, but his season ended after 13 weeks when he, too, suffered an injury that would hold him out for the remainder of the year.
Jones opened up his sophomore campaign as the starting right tackle but didn’t hold the position down nearly as well as he had in Year 1. He also fell short of full season for the second time in two years, undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a fractured ankle from the team’s Week 11 contest that year. He also underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his knee for an issue he had reportedly been playing through in 2024. Regardless, Jones opened up the 2025 season as the Browns starting left tackle, but for the third year in a row, his season ended with surgery, this time to address a knee injury suffered just three weeks into the season.
The Browns made a similar cost-cutting move with running back Jerome Ford in 2025. Ford had carried a big role in prior seasons, but the use of high draft picks on rookie rushers Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson meant that Ford’s hold on a continued significant role was in jeopardy; similarly this year, the team used a first- and third-round pick on Jones’ position. Getting Ford onto a restructured deal allowed the team to reduce his cap impact while giving him some guaranteed money that he otherwise might have missed out on if cut.
ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi pointed out that Cleveland has played this card before with multiple fourth-year players who received Proven Performance Escalators, bonuses awarded to non-first-round picks to compensate them for contributions beyond the expectations assumed based on their draft status. He also notes that wide receiver Cedric Tillman and defensive end Isaiah McGuire classified for Level One PPE and will be due $3.6MM non-guaranteed salaries in 2026, as well. With the Browns utilizing first- and second-round picks on Tillman’s position, he could be the next target for such a restructured deal.
Starting tackles are in such short supply, I wonder if Jones would have done better even if cut. I can understand why the Browns are tired of paying Jones to sit on injured reserve.