Over the coming weeks, a few Browns—possibly Deshaun Watson and Amari Cooper—may receive a sizable transfer into their bank accounts.
The Browns are in the midst of a compensation restructuring, and in exchange for some cap relief, a number of players will receive upfront bonuses. Teams with wealthy owners who can afford to write large checks benefit from this.
The NFL salary cap was set on Friday at $255.4 million, a record $30 million increase per club above the $224.8 million maximum from the previous season. For the Browns, who would have needed to find more inventive funding if the bump hadn’t been so large, this is excellent news.
According to Spotrac, they are currently $7,721,189 over the cap as of March 13, when the new league year begins, and they must be in compliance by then. According to the website, that is good for 27th place in the NFL. Buffalo comes in last at $41,316,834 over, with the Broncos, Chargers, Dolphins, Saints, and Bills being the only clubs with less cap room.
According to Spotrac, they are currently $7,721,189 over the cap as of March 13, when the new league year begins, and they must be in compliance by then. According to the website, that is good for 27th place in the NFL. Buffalo comes in last at $41,316,834 over, with the Broncos, Chargers, Dolphins, Saints, and Bills being the only clubs with less cap room.
That may be encouraging for the Browns if they want to sign a potential free agent from the Bills, such wide receiver Gabe Davis, whose market value is $54.488 million for four years, or roughly $13.6 million annually.
To get under the cap sufficiently to meet their offseason roster objectives, the Browns must first undertake some housekeeping and restructuring. Luckily for them, that hasn’t been a problem.
The Browns may not create as much of a stir in the spring as they did in the previous season when they acquired players like Elijah Moore, Dustin Hopkins, and Za’Darius Smith and signed players like Dalvin Tomlinson, Ogbo Okoronkwo, and Juan Thornhill. But whether they re-sign Smith or go after the expected big pool of edge rushers, they still have holes to fill, one at defensive end and maybe one or two at receiver.
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