Good video!

Jack Duffin and Quincy Carrier also do a really good explanation about how Berry is drafting players 2-3 years out and how they value depth etc.

That helps me understand more of the moves we make like I knew Hunt was going to be let go, but hearing what I thought helps me understand other moves also ... I thimk we are blessed having AB running this roster

This is the prudent approach, of course given the fact that you can develop guys like Isaiah Thomas, David Bell, etc

Salary cap increasing by almost $17 million.

Actually, this number is $200,000 less than what Over The Cap had predicted and has been using for their cap figues. That means the Browns are actually $200,000 more over the cap for 2023 currently with a cap space of ($14,845,606) in the hole.

Does this account for rollover cap?

Unfortunately, yes, the rollover cap has already been spent.

2023
Browns Current Liabilities: $266,541,854
Team Salary Cap plus Rollover: $251,696,248 ($224,800,000 NFL Cap + $26,896,248 Rollover from 2022)
Cap Space: ($14,845,606)

2023
Browns Current Liabilities: $266,541,854
Team Salary Cap plus Rollover: $251,696,248 ($224,800,000 NFL Cap + $26,896,248 Rollover from 2022)
Cap Space: ($14,845,606)

Actually, no one mentioned the prediction. I posted a tweet that gave an update on the new salary cap number.

And I followed up with what the cap was predicted to be and the current status of the Browns cap. Problem?

I posted a tweet and you start off your reply w/the word, "Actually." I wasn't telling an untruth. I didn't even comment. The problem is you are constantly confrontational.

Did I direct the comment to you or towards you? Tell me where in my post that you're referenced anywhere? The tweet says that the cap has been raised to a high level. The actually was in reference to the figure that Over The Cap has been using which is clearly detailed in my post. You spew so much hatred that even when comments are not directed toward you - you try to make it about you. I apologize if my Over The Cap comment offended you. Let's move on.

So, it had been going up 10M per year (minus the covid year) and this season it goes up over 16M. Can't be a bad thing no matter how much anyone tries to psycho-analyze it.

I wish I got a 5-7% yearly raise

I'm sure Berry had been basing all his upcoming moves on overthecap.com and is now frantically trying to cover the 0.088% shortfall.

That is too funny!!! People think that NFL insiders with knowledge of what the actual number will be is using an outsider's web site to calculate the cap projection. WOW! Just WOW!

That was actually predicted to happen all along. And there's a reason for that. The NFL and the networks signed new contract deals this year. There's also the new Sunday ticket contract. The TV deals are where the NFL makes a lot of its money. So while you're correct nobody can spin the increase in a bad way, it's the type of influx of cash that only happens when new TV deals are reached. Everyone who understands that knew that it would have an impact on how much the cap would go up. The bulk of those deals run through 2033 so the NFL won't see this type of rise from a percentage standpoint again until 2033.

NFL announces new broadcast deals running through 2033 season

https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-announces-new-broadcast-deals-running-through-2033-season

It would be funny if almost all major football outlets hadn't predicted almost the exact same thing. But they did. And anyone and everyone following along knew why. Hopefully Berry did too.

Yep. And I know that the whole league was spending money it didn't have in anticipation. Hell, salary caps are just a credit card statement anyway.

It's just nice that the big bump comes in the first season we've had to worry about a salary cap since extending Jim Brown lol.

Hard for me to paint that as a negative.

The largest salary cap bumps are expected in 2024 where the cap is expected to skyrocket to $255M-$260M.

Here is a good article on the subject. It's written in 2021 and explains how new TV deals and Covid impacted and will impact the salary cap.

An NFL Spending Boom Is Coming, Just Not Right Now

Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com said his “guess is our first real big spike year hits in 2024 with the cap probably in the range of $260 million. It should reach $300 million by 2027.” This means that any wishful thinking that this year’s bad deals won’t matter is misguided. They will. NBC Sports’ Peter King speculated this week that there could be a way next season for teams to have a “bank” to borrow from in future seasons, because “by 2023 lots of teams that pushed bigger 2021 deals than they could afford will need room desperately.”

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2021/3/23/22345865/nfl-free-agency-media-rights-deals-future-spending

Here's an article that also discusses the major spike in salary cap and how teams (specifically the 49ers in this article) worked deals back in 2021 free agency anticipating restructuring deals in the future knowing the major increase is/was coming in 2023 and 2024.

How the expected salary-cap spike in 2023 made 49ers’ restructures for Arik Armstead and George Kittle feasible

The salary cap, which was $198.2 million in 2020 before the pandemic’s impact on revenue led to 2021’s severe reduction to $182.5 million, began a dramatic recovery this year. It’s set at $208.2 million for 2022. Based on that upward trajectory, the cap is expected to approach pre-pandemic expectations — perhaps $220 million to $225 million — by 2023.

By 2024, Fitzgerald expects a salary cap in the range of $260 million. By 2027, he expects it to reach $300 million.

https://theathletic.com/3189662/202...rik-armstead-and-george-kittle-feasible/

Like you have said, Berry is aware of all this and has planned for. It's why I have zero concerns about the Browns managing their salary cap space.

35M increase next year? That's crazy.

Seems like this is the very best time to have a huge QB contract. Obviously it sucks that the first year was flushed, but still, we're ahead of the curve.

Do whatever "reworking" we're going to do with DW now (we will) because we're a season or two from that looking like a pedestrian QB contract.

Berry was trained well.

Most fans that studied the Watson contract thought that before the contract expires it would be looked back on as a bargain. Now the poor Ravens and Lamar Jackson might think otherwise. But we do not care what they think. The Bengals and cheap Mike Brown will need to pony up to keep Burrow. Just watch what LA will have to do to keep Hurbert!!!

Burrow's contract should be pretty large... will be interesting to see if he signs a new one this off season or waits until next year..

Tyler Greenawalt
Mon, January 30, 2023 at 2:04 PM EST

The NFL also made adjustments to franchise tags for each position for the 2023 season. Here they are, per MMQB:

QB: $32,416,000
RB: $10,091,000
WR: $19,743,000
TE: $11,345,000
OL: $18,244,000
DE: $19,727,000
DT: $18,937,000
LB: $20,926,000
CB: $18,140,000
S: $14,460,000
K/P: $5,393,000

j/c:

Wasn't sure where to put this but considering the trade ramifications:

The thought process is correct, but the reality of the situation tells a completely different story.

Andrew Brandt was vice president of the Packers from 1999-2008, negotiating all players contracts, managing the salary cap and handling all players legal and business matters. He warns of the excessive use of prorated bonuses in the NFL. "Myth: Cap gurus magically create cap room by moving it into future years."

"No. You can do that and, sorry, no, you wouldn’t be a cap guru. You can take a big salary or a big bonus (not currently prorated), turn it into signing bonus (prorated) and, in the stroke of the player’s pen, cap room would magically appear, and the problem would be deferred, although not solved."

"The Saints have done this repeatedly with Drew Brees. The Steelers have done this repeatedly with Ben Roethlisberger. Pain is now being felt by these two teams. Some NFL teams are doing this now to alleviate some existing cap problems, continuing the vicious cycle of stacking additional proration upon already existing proration and creating more problems down the road. No one doing this is a cap guru. A true cap guru sets a team up so it never needs to do much of this, if any at all."

So, let's talk about just 2 moves the Browns are most likely to make this off season.

The 2023 NFL Team Cap has been set by the NFL to be 224.8M per club. The Browns have a cap rollover of $26,896,248 from 2022. The Browns Team Salary Cap plus Rollover for 2023 is thus $251,696,248.

Unfortunately, the current contracts the Browns are accountable for in 2023 is already at a staggering level of a $266,605,854 cap hit meaning the Browns currently sit ($13,534,606) over the cap for 2023. This number has to change to free up cap space before the Browns can sign any FA's, draft, or trade for any players because the Browns are required to be at or below the cap availability by the start of the new league year which is March 15 at 4:00 P.M. EST.

Now, the consensus is that the Browns will restructure Watson's contract again (2nd year in a row) moving his salary to a prorated bonus. This would free up 33.69M in cap and when applied to the team cap would give the Browns $20,155,394 in excess cap space to operate with in 2023. All good and problem solved - but is it?

In response to the above posts that state Watson's contract will look like a bargain in a couple of years or that his contract will look like a pedestrian contract just went out the window with the restructures. Watson's cap hit for the final 3-years of his contract (2024, 25, and 26) will balloon to $66,223,000 per year. If you want to put that in perspective, Watson's annual cap charge will be more than 20M per season higher than Patrick Mahomes contract cap hit each of the next 3-years. It will also be 30M more than Russell Wilson in 2024 and more than 10M more than Wilson in 2025 and 2026. Even if the Bengals, Ravens, and LAChargers sign their young QB's too long-term deals paying an unheard of 50M per year, Watson's cap charge his final 3-years will be over 16M more per year to the Browns. This is what happens when you kick the can down the road.

Ahhh, but it gets better. The proposed team cap for 2024 is projected to be 256M (with no carryover) or an increase of 31.2M from 2023. The current Browns contracts in place for 2024 with the proposed Watson new 2023 restructure gives the Browns contract liabilities of $276,401,171 or $20,401,171 over the proposed 2024 cap. Now part 2, on May 1, the Browns have to decide whether they will exercise Wills 5th year option. If the Browns do that (as expected), Wills will have a 15M-17M guaranteed contract for 2024. Adding that to the current cap liabilities, the Browns projected cap costs will be $291,401,171 or higher which would be $35,401,171 over the cap in 2024 for just addressing Wills and Watson.

The real issue with all that is listed above is that there is nothing about any trade cost in 2023. There is no reference to any 2023 free agent cost the Browns might incur short or long term. The is no inclusion of player draft cap costs for 2023. Nothing is included as additions to the 2024 cap liabilities except Wills and Watson.

2023 key Browns Free agents not included in the above costs: Jones, Pocic, Hubbard, Harrison, Bryan, Brissett, Hunt, Walker, and Clowney

If you don't believe this is serious, the following players are key Browns FA's next year and not included in the 2024 cap liabilities: Delpit, Bryant, Elliott, Phillips, Bojorquez, Harris, Forbes, John Johnson, DPJ, and any other 1-year deal Berry spins.

The cap casualty merry-go-round will start in earnest in 2024 - shizz happens when you "just kick that can down the road!" You can ignore this if you want but cap hell is just around the corner for the Browns.

^ I didn't post that ^ Not sure how you ended up attributing to me.

Sorry, the quotes were inverted but basically saying the same thing.

Ah, I see what you did now.

Yeah, that's my opinion on the situation.

More than this, I'm really not concerned about the salary cap. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard of a team being in "cap hell", I'd be the owner of the Browns.

I know this part of the algorithm is confusing... but it's necessary.

Here's the scoop...

Young talent becoming unsustainable contracts is exactly why we should be pushing the chips in right now. You keep that window propped open for as long as possible. I understand the salary cap is a credit card. That, and the escalating cap, allows us to prop the window open for a longer time. We're taking advantage of what the cap provides as far as cheap credit.

Is that a sustainable model? Only if you propel yourself into upper-echelon talent quickly. At that point, the free agents flock to you on cheap(er) contracts.

If it all goes to $%*#, you flush the turd and start over... two years of pain, back to competing at a high level.

This model beats the hell out of 'meandering' at 5-11, like we did for years a decade on end; no FAs wanting to touch us with a ten-foot-pole, no draft pick high enough to get past the Weedens and Johnny Manziels of the world.

Wow was I ever under the wrong impression. Yikes. Somehow, I thought the Browns set up Watsons ENTIRE contract to be the like the first year. Guess that wasn't the case... again, YIKES

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/cap/

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. It also gives the perfect example of how you need so many players on rookie contracts and low priced FA's to make it possible to pay your high priced players. A fact that's true for all NFL teams and not just the Browns. Identifying those draft picks and undervalued FA's is just as important to building a team as the guys you pay at the top. Because you can't have one without the other.

I get what you're saying, and I agree somewhat. But here's the kicker, the Browns have been dishing out these high paid contracts and surrounding them with late round draft picks and cheap FA's the last 2-years. The Browns might not have been 5-11 but 8-9 and 7-10 isn't nothing to brag about. Actually, it got the Browns the same result, sitting at home during the playoffs. To make it worse, before the Browns do a single thing this off season, they are already more than 13M over the cap for players on a team that has sported 2 consecutive losing seasons.

Nobody knows if there are FA's wanting to touch us with a ten-foot-pole and the Browns still have no draft pick high enough to get past the weak players they continue to draft. Since most of the Browns picks are falling in the 3rd round or later, Berry's 3rd round picks have been a lot to be desired: 2020 - Elliott and Phillips, 2021 - Schwartz, and 2022 - Emerson, Wright, and Bell. Three years with six 3rd round picks and only one, Emerson, being a solid contributor to the team. The jury might still be out on Bell and Wright, but they look to me like nothing better than a backup at best in their career. A Super Bowl contending team can't continue to miss like that and expect to win.

j/c:

When one trashes the Browns w/every post they make because one is so butt-hurt about Baker, one has to be a good dancer. When discussing Stefanski on one thread, one will say things w/how Stefanski is wasting years of a team w/a great roster and how we are not taking advantage of those great players in their prime. Then, on a thread that is about the FO, that same poster will talk about how poor the roster is and how many misses that FO has made.

When one says getting DW will be the end all be all, yet sees the results of his first year in Cleveland (after a whole off season of working with the team), yes, one must dance.

Provide a quote when of anyone who said that "getting DW will be the end all be all." You can't You are lying yet again. Go back to the Political forum where you belong.

j/c:

I'm bullish on the Stefanski/Watson combo heading into next season. I respect Stefanski's ability to elevate Brissett's game and expect he'll put in similar work to bring Watson back to the form we remember a couple seasons ago.

Watson was w/out a play book all year. Stefanski did wonders w/Jacoby. Got him to play far greater than he ever did before. He even made Baker look somewhat decent for half a year.

I think Watson will play very well next year. If I am wrong, I will admit it. On the other hand, those trashing him now won't admit they were wrong if he does play well, just like they can't admit that Baker's flop was of epic proportions this year and that they were wrong about him, Stefanski, and the injury.

No one but you is talking about Baker.

YOU stated so, so many times how much better the Browns will be with a "real" quarterback. First year is done. Don't try to back away from what you stated in so many posts. I don't need to quote you. Everyone has read them.

He will show up next year after a full off season (those damn off seasons.........like he didn't have time to prepare for this year?) Nah, he'll show how good you think he is, and belabored the point ad nausea, this coming year, or he's a bust. Period. The end.

And further more, like you did when Baker was here - since you're telling me where to post - why don't you go back to being mr. invisible?

https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/new...-browns-offense-to-fit-qb-deshaun-watson

https://www.morningjournal.com/2022...ve-with-deshaun-watson-at-quarterback-2/
Kevin Stefanski eager for Browns offense to ‘evolve’ with Deshaun Watson at quarterback

Just a lie. A flat out lie. Watson had the playbook up until his suspension took place. he also got it back when he was re instated. He had the playbook. To think otherwise, let alone state is, is fool hardy.

Although, the way he played would make you think he'd never seen a play book, so you have that going for you.

There it is - the only guy on the forum that has to have Baker in every thread. 54,361 posts with a 1.36% "like" on his posts by fellow forum posters. Who's really filling the forum with trash and hijacking posts? It becomes more evident every day that the only person in this forum that's "Baker butthurt" is you.

Sorry, sent to wrong person - it's right now!

There it is - the only guy on the forum that has to have Baker in every thread. 54,361 posts with a 1.36% "like" on his posts by fellow forum posters. Who's really filling the forum with trash and hijacking posts? It becomes more evident every day that the only person in this forum that's "Baker butthurt" is you.

As it relates to this post........the correct answer is multiple people.

You do realize the "like" feature is a rather recent addition to these forums. An awful lot of posts made by people that have been here a while were made beforehand. Not that "like" percentage means a damn thing anyway.

I like that post, jfan 😀

Maybe it does and maybe it doesn't, but it doesn't change the fact that you can go to any thread and see his attacks and trash that he posts. I have no beef with you. Nobody has to read my posts, but I shouldn't have to accept being personally attacked for my opinion. If you disagree, post your opinion and let's move on - that never happens with him and he immediately resorts to name calling and attacks.

As it relates to track record? Only a couple. Shall I name them??????????????????????? Or is it obvious?

He's not lying, he's condensing. When you take the things you've said and boil it down, you are saying he's the man that will get us there. The thing is, he might be. But he didn't show it last season.

As for him not having a playbook,, not exactly accurate. He had a playbook during the off season stuff. He was at Camp. He was around during preseason and he received his playbook and was allowed to practice several weeks before actually starting a game.

Was it Ideal? No, of course not. That's why I'm giving some room in the debate. But he didn't light anything up when he finally got in a game.

He put it in quotation marks. I never said that. I have said there are no guarantees, but at least now we have a chance. I have also said he was a top 10 qb in the past. I have said that multiple teams that were willing to give up the farm for him. None of those things are lies. arch comes to this forum to fight. He rarely makes a legit football post. It's all about personalities w/him.

As far as having no play book. I misspoke. I knew it was just during the suspension. I apologize for the miscommunication.

You would think that the expectation level of knowing the playbook inside and out would have been at the highest degree for Watson. Think about it, the Browns paid Watson 46M last year. When the Browns restructured his contract in March and handed him the playbook and a check for $44,965,000, wouldn't you think that the minimum expectation would have been that he knew that playbook inside and out by the start of the season? Wouldn't you think that while watching the 11 games while suspended he would have been running the play call through his mind depending on the way the team lined up on the field or at a minimum associate the play ran by repeating that play call back to himself? To say he never had the playbook (which is a lie) and use that as an excuse for his play appears to say he did little to nothing during those 11 weeks for the $44,965,000 he was paid.

I'm not trying to be critical of Watson. I'm just asking a question as to what the expectations might have been and did the Browns get their money's worth or was this just a 11-week unplanned vacation where he was just supposed to stay in shape for the $44,965,000?

I myself IMHO, will give Watson the benefit of the doubt and say he knew the playbook inside and out. That should eliminate the idea that his play was attributed to the knowledge of the playbook. Was he completely fluent with the adjustments and game plan - probably not but the basics should have been there, and I would find it highly unlikely that Stefanski expected anything more than the base knowledge while calling every play for him anyways.

Some rust, timing, and developing a comradery with his WR's could explain away some of his poor performances but the playbook, that seems like just an excuse without validity. Afterall, if he didn't know the playbook, had rust, poor timing, and no comradery; what did the Browns pay 46M for in 2022?

If you are going to beg the question than answer it yourself.

Wow. Certain posters seem very touchy around here.

If he wants to know if it was a 11 week vacation?

Then answer it.

What was he paid for? Did he know the playbook?

"Some rust, timing, and developing a comradery with his WR's could explain away some of his poor performances but the playbook, that seems like just an excuse without validity. Afterall, if he didn't know the playbook, had rust, poor timing, and no comradery; what did the Browns pay 46M for in 2022?

Don't dance around and play games. Just come out and say what you are alluding too.

Oh certain posters just say me.

Your post was addressed to me but the quote wasn't mine so I have no idea who it is you were addressing with your post.

Wow, even when you are trying to start a conversation you get negative connotations. Someone on this thread made the statement that Watson didn't know the playbook even to the point of never having it. It was an opinion that this was the reason for Watson's poor play. I'm not alluding to anything. After it has been debunked that Watson didn't have the playbook, then the next question would be what he did to earn the 46M in 2022. If he didn't know the playbook; then the fans, his teammates and Cleveland Browns have been grossly shortchanged. If he did know the playbook, then what does that say about the opinions on this forum that his lack of knowledge of the playbook was a reason for his poor play? One other item, Watson didn't know he was getting a 11-game suspension until August. Until that moment, it was predicted that he'd get a 4-game suspension or none at all. Are you telling me he didn't know the playbook even before knowing of the lengthy suspension?

I've tried very hard to stay out of the Watson conversation as to his play in 2022, as much as I can. However, when I hear excuses like he never had the playbook or his lack of knowledge of the playbook caused his bad play after the Browns paid him 46M is laughable. I mean, you don't have to participate but lashing out at me for asking the question most any fan would want to know is clearly a just say me moment. Look, I want Watson to have a top-notch year in 2023 because I'm tired of watching this team lose. As a player, he has the tools, but he missed 11 games in 2022 because of his off the field extracurricular activities. I didn't cause that, the Browns didn't cause that, and his fellow teammates didn't cause that - that was all Watson. That shortchanged me the fan, his teammates, and the Cleveland Browns. He didn't have any problem collecting that 46M that he clearly wasn't going to earn but now I'm expected to accept some lame excuse like he didn't know the playbook? That's BS and you know it.

Now it's another off season and Watson has the playbook - just like last year. Shortly, the Browns will most likely restructure his deal and hand him a check for $44,965,000 again. The expectation would be that he reports to camp with a thorough knowledge of the playbook if the Browns are going to have any success in 2023. That should have been the expectation in 2022. The exact same thing every QB in the NFL goes through with a change in management - Watson is no different. My point based on the opinioned post, 46M is a hell of a lot of money to pay a player who wasn't prepared to play - based on another posters opinion of not knowing the playbook. It certainly presents the thought that if he couldn't learn in the last off season are we expected to see more of the same this year?

I never once intended to to say that not having the playbook while he was suspended was the reason he played poorly. I am saying that there were a multitude of factors and we can't dismiss it because we don't like him.

In fact, I am old enough to remember when people continually blamed one of our QBs poor play on bad weather, yet they never mention that Watson played in 2 bad-weather games. They just talk about his stats. I am not saying that playing in those two bad weather games was why he looked so bad, but I do think it should at least be acknowledged, especially after the huge amount of posts dedicated to the weather conditions for another of our QBs.

Again, I think there are a multitude of reasons why Watson played poorly. And he did play poorly. He held the ball too long. He made some inaccurate throws. He should have ran more. He wasn't always trusting what he was seeing.

I think the biggest reason for his poor play was the speed of the game. He missed a lot of time and he struggled w/the speed of the game, which is way faster than most people think. Reading coverages in less than 2.5 seconds is impossible for most of us. I cannot guarantee anything, but my guess is that he returns to form as being one of the better qbs in the entire league. I don't buy all this crap that he suddenly lost all of the skills that made him great not long ago.

And once again I'll point out that whether something is considered an excuse or a "factor" depends on the player.

We finally agree.

I agree with about 96% of what you post. Intended or not, assumptions of this forum go wild when people try to read something into a post that was not intended. Even when you try to explain the intention, like you have just done, forum mates attack without mercy. I'm as guilty as anyone else on this forum and I apologize for doing that. Anyway, contrary to popular believe, I never expected Watson to be top 5 elite when he stepped on the field in 2022. I likewise never expected him to be a bottom 5 cellar dweller either. I don't believe the Browns got their 46M worth out of Watson in 2022. There can be numerous reason s for that, but the bottom line is that his poor showing falls completely in Watsons lap. He has a lot of ground to make up before 2023 and he most likely is never going to get the benefit of the doubt. Thanks for the post, it explained a lot.

Oh, I'm pretty damn old myself.

Apology accepted. I think it got blown out of proportion because it was quoted and it stood alone. Everything else I wrote in that particular post was not quoted. Hell, I really don't even remember writing that part and I had a hard time finding where I wrote about the play book.

Waton was bad last year. I would never deny that. I wrote about how bad he looked in each of my Game Recap threads each week. I think he will be good again, but there are no guarantees.

When you get paid 230 million dollars people are usually looking for accountability first. "Just give it time" isn't something someone usually associates with that type of contract.

Did I say that you should give it time? I wasn't telling others what to think or do. I was speaking for myself.

I wasn't addressing that to you. I'll remind you again that not everything is about you.

I'm looking at the reality of the situation. Obviously watson was given a five year contract. We know that the first year of that contract the Browns didn't get elite QB play for watson. So now he received that 230 million for four years of elite QB play. I mean surely you don't think they paid him that kind of money to play average or below average.

So at this point the best case scenario is that they get four years of his expected level of play for 230 million dollars. That breaks down to 54.5 million per year. If it takes even longer for him to come back to form, that cost increases even more per the time he plays to the level they paid hm to play at. At some point that return on investment is cost prohibitive. I suppose each person can determine at what point that occurs.

Watson was not allowed to have a playbook during the 11 weeks he was suspended. (Which is the truth, not a lie)

Read the entire post instead of just pulling a part. The point was that Watson received the playbook in March and had the playbook in his possession all the way until August. If he had not been suspended, would he not have been expected to know the playbook inside and out for the start of the season just as every other QB that gets a new coach and/or switches teams? He made 46M last year and it would appear that some people here seem to think that while he was off for 11 weeks (actually only 5 weeks since Watson was allowed in the Browns facility since Oct. 10, but has only been permitted to work out with team training/medical staff, have his playbook back, attend meetings and meet individually with head coach Kevin Stefanski, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and quarterbacks coach Drew Petzing.) Watson then became eligible to return to practice Monday, the day after the Browns’ Week 10 loss to the Dolphins. According to the opinion stated, that would mean that Watson just forgot everything in the playbook over a 5-week period and then the next 6 weeks learned nothing more about the Browns offense.


Deshaun Watson is back with the Cleveland Browns. The QB is permitted to return to the team facility on Monday for the first time since his 11-game suspension from the league took effect on August 30.

Watson was not allowed to have any contact with the Browns’ coaching staff, receive a game plan or playbook, or step foot in the team facility. Those protocols were all changed and took effect on Monday October 10th.

Watson is still barred from attending group workouts, practices, or games, but is certainly able to participate with his team at a much higher level.

I withdraw any assumption that it was a lie, but your forum post is not the truth because he had the playbook back in week 6.

Well, if we can't give it time and have to look at just this year, we have to say that Watson's base salary was just $402, 000 this year, his signing bonus was just short of $9 million, and his cap hit was $9,395,500. I believe that is far less than what we would have had to pay Baker Mayfield. So, I guess he still has time to earn that big contract he has.

False. He had the playbook from preseason and 2 weeks before his first game.

Lets be real... It's not like the playbooks changed significantly from pre-season either.

Let's be even more real. You took one line from a post I made that really had nothing at all to do w/the playbook other than that one line and posted it as a stand-alone post so you could throw shade at Watson and probably myself. I expect that kind of cheap-ass crap from some posters. Did not expect it from you.

Stop it, that is not how the contract is paid and you know it. There are two different items you're attempting to talk about, cap cost and contract cost. The Browns structured the contract so it would not affect the cap severely in 2022, His base salary was set at 1.035M not $402,000 as you state and his prorated bonus from spreading his first-year salary cost over 5-years was 8.993M for a total cap cost of $9,395,500 in 2022. In actual dollar cost though, the Browns paid 1.035M in 2022 salary and handed Watson a check at signing for the 1st year balance of 44.965M. Watson's cost to the Browns was 46M in year one - period. Mayfield was guaranteed and couldn't be adjusted but would have been only 18M in cash or cap money. Watsons cost was 46M and though Berry moved money so the cap cost was only $9.395,500 that additional $36,604,500 will have to hit the cap cost in future years so the Browns haven't paid Watson less by any stretch of the imagination. Here's the fact, Watson has a 100% guaranteed contract that pays him guaranteed 46M per season. How the Browns try to distribute that in the cap is an entirely different conversation but saying the Browns only paid Watson a bargain rate of $9,395,500 in 2022 is an untrue statement - that's what the cap number was set at by the Browns.

Bottom line, cost to Haslam's checkbook for Watson 2022 - 46M.

It was Pit who said we are not allowed to look forward and brought up $230 million. That's just plain stupid. We can look forward.

I got the numbers from spotrac. They are extremely reliable.

Excuse me, I forgot to delete his suspension money of 11/17 of the 1.035M leaving him a total check from the Haslam's of $45,330,294.10 in 2022.

I do think that circumstances (suspension) need consideration. In addition to his 11 week suspension with us, he was out all the year before. Man he had to be rusty. Can he come back from that much time off? He certainly didn't show it last year. But to be fair, I want to evaluate him after a full camp and preseason. If he can't do it after that, then we messed up. Bigly!

I did consider it. So he will be getting paid 230 million dollars for four years of actual elite QB play rather than five. That makes the average per year he is getting paid to play to an elite level is 54.5 million per year. And that's IF he comes out at the beginning of the season next year playing at that level. The longer it takes him to come back to his old level of play the less times the Browns get of what that salary expectation should be.

I didn't mention anything about the cap. I talked about the total of his contract and the average salary per season. The Browns actually paid watson $44.965 million in 2022. What is that? About four times what the QB whose name you can't keep out of your mouth made in 2022. And watson didn't look any better.

This is from PFF. It's cut candidates for all 32 NFL teams. I just pasted the AFC North commentary.











https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-cut-ca...ixon-kenny-golladay-frank-clark-2023#BLT

After reading dozens and dozens of posts from one of our board members, I thought the Browns were dead last in regards to the salary cap. Thus, I opened an article from PFF that was entitled Fixing the 5 NFL with the least salary cap space:... The Browns were not listed in the group, but I thought I would post this for people to see how teams can manipulate the cap.


Fixing the 5 NFL teams with the least salary cap space: Cuts, extensions, restructures and more

Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) is congratulated by wide receiver Chris Godwin (12) after catching a pass for a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons during the first quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

By Brad Spielberger
Feb 23, 2023


• Another year, another New Orleans Saints cap struggle: The Saints would save around $20 million by adding a void year and restructuring the contracts of cornerback Marshon Lattimore and tackle Ryan Ramczyk.

• Los Angeles Chargers can save with restructures: The Chargers could recoup nearly $25 million in cap space by restructuring the contracts of edge defenders Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack.

• Shaquill Griffin a potential cap casualty for the Jaguars: The Jaguars are currently projected to have -$22,753,686 in cap space, and releasing cornerback Shaquill Griffin already takes more than $13 million off the books.

ESTIMATED READING TIME: 7 MINS

Every offseason, a handful of NFL teams begin February projected to be well over the following year’s salary cap before they start to release players and restructure contracts. All 32 NFL teams must be compliant with the 2023 cap — recently set at $224.8 million — by Wednesday, March 15.

A few clubs have already started their cap purge — an annual tradition for the New Orleans Saints, who kicked things off with restructures for safety Marcus Maye and center Erik McCoy. We wanted to provide one potential path to get above water for the five teams currently projected to be most over the 2023 salary cap.



TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
Current projected 2023 cap space: (-$56,531,921)

Restructure WR Chris Godwin (+$14,190,000)
Extend WR Mike Evans (+$9,335,000)
Designate OT Donovan Smith a post-June 1 release (+$15,250,000)
Restructure DI Vita Vea (+$8,565,000)
Designate TE Cameron Brate a post-June 1 release (+4,000,000)
Add two void years and restructure cornerback Carlton Davis (+$10,736,000)
End result 2023 cap space: $5,943,937

There are more levers to pull here for the Buccaneers, and they may ultimately need to do so to give themselves some breathing room with quarterback Tom Brady’s full $35,104,000 dead cap currently hitting the books in 2023. Typically, teams look to carry around $5 million to $10 million in cap space into the season to account for injured reserve replacements and other upward adjustments over the course of the year.

A restructure for center Ryan Jensen and a decision on edge defender Shaquil Barrett could be under consideration. However, avoiding pushing cap hits into the future on two players over 30 years old coming off significant injuries would be prudent. Lastly, moving on from wide receiver Russell Gage before $5 million more of his 2023 salary becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2023 league year in mid-March is a possibility.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Current projected 2023 cap space: (-$47,402,318)

Already restructured S Marcus Maye (+4,856,000)
Already restructured C Erik McCoy (+$8,000,000)
Add a void year and restructure CB Marshon Lattimore (+$10,736,000)
Add a void year and restructure OT Ryan Ramczyk (+$10,336,000)
Add a void year and restructure TE/QB Taysom Hill (+$7,056,000)
Add a void year and restructure S Tyrann Mathieu (+4,668,000)
Designate OG Andrus Peat a post-June 1 release (+$11,825,000)
Designate WR Michael Thomas a post-June 1 release (+$1,365,000)
Release QB Jameis Winston (+$4,400,000)
End result 2023 cap space: $2,983,682

A potentially looming suspension for running back Alvin Kamara would also provide the Saints with some salary cap relief, though we won’t know the extent of that for a while. Additionally, the Saints could come to terms on an extension with either edge defender Marcus Davenport or interior defender David Onyemata and avoid dead cap hits accelerating onto their 2023 books. They pushed back the void date on both of these players to March 15, buying both sides time to potentially work something out.

Each team in a given offseason can designate only two players as post-June 1 releases, and we chose Andrus Peat over Jameis Winston for the second slot along with Michael Thomas, who needs that spot unless he and the team agree to a new contract. In Thomas’ recently reworked contract, he has a $31.775 million roster bonus for 2024 that will become fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2023 league year. As a result, March 17 is a pseudo-deadline for a new deal to be reached or for Thomas to be designated a post-June 1 release.

There are still a few smaller moves available, but we again wanted to avoid pushing cap down the road on edge defender Cameron Jordan and linebacker Demario Davis, if possible. However, despite their age, the two have been remarkably durable and productive in recent years.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Current projected 2023 cap space: (-$24,424,174)

Extend QB Kirk Cousins (+$15,000,000)
Approximation without getting into the weeds of what an extension could look like
Extend TE T.J. Hockenson (+$5,250,000)
Restructure OT Brian O’Neill (+$10,065,000)
Negotiate pay cut with WR Adam Thielen (+$5,000,000)
Negotiate pay cut with LB Eric Kendricks (+$4,150,000)
Negotiate pay cut with S Harrison Smith (+$4,700,000)
End result 2023 cap space: $19,740,826

When you start to break down what the Vikings need to do this offseason, you realize just how old and bloated this roster currently is, and how much work new defensive coordinator Brian Flores has ahead of him. It’s very presumptuous to assume any player will willingly take a pay cut. It’s borderline delusional to assume all three of the above players will agree, but the trio of Thielen, Kendricks and Smith are lifers with the club and perhaps could be persuaded to run it back one more time at a reduced rate. Linebacker Jordan Hicks is a cut candidate, as well, and maybe that is how Minnesota chooses to save some money at off-ball linebacker.

Running back Dalvin Cook should probably be approached for a pay cut, too, much like Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones, who agreed to reduce his 2023 compensation by $5 million, but there are no assurances he’ll agree.

Coming off a highly productive and healthy 2022 campaign with 76 quarterback pressures and 10.5 sacks, edge defender Danielle Hunter almost certainly will not play in 2023 for $5.5 million in cash after looking for an extension the past few years. Extensions for Hunter, perhaps edge defender Za’Darius Smith after he proved he can still be a high-level edge rusher on a pseudo-prove-it deal and potentially superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson could all be in play, further eating into the cash budget available to improve this roster elsewhere.

Long story short, there is a path forward for this Minnesota team, but this roster could look dramatically different by 2024 if it doesn’t already in 2023.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Current projected 2023 cap space: (-$22,753,686)

Release CB Shaquill Griffin (+$13,147,059)
Extend EDGE Josh Allen (+$3,492,000)
Approximation without getting into the weeds of what an extension could look like
Extend DI Roy Robertson-Harris (+$3,300,000)
Approximation without getting into the weeds of what an extension could look like
Restructure WR Christian Kirk (+$10,946,667)
Restructure OT Cam Robinson (+$7,710,000)
End result 2023 cap space: $16,318,020

The Jaguars set records for offseason spending over the 2022 offseason but don’t have many regrets coming off an AFC South division title followed by a 27-point playoff comeback against the Los Angeles Chargers — the third-largest playoff comeback in NFL history. They don’t have to get too crazy here and could also look to restructure linebacker Foyesade Oluokun and/or guard Brandon Scherff.

Re-signing tight end Evan Engram and edge defender Arden Key appears to be their in-house priority, but neither should break the bank necessarily. After years of Jacksonville sitting atop the NFL in cap space, they’re near the bottom for a very good reason. Odds are they’ll be aggressive again this offseason entering the third year of quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s rookie contract. Once that bill comes due, they’ll have to reevaluate their roster construction and resource allocation.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
Current projected 2023 cap space: (-$20,511,524)

Restructure EDGE Joey Bosa (+$15,223,333)
Release OL Matt Feiler (+$6,500,000)
Restructure EDGE Khalil Mack (+$10,867,500)
Restructure DI Sebastian Joseph-Day (+$2,710,000)
Extend RB Austin Ekeler (+$2,170,000)
Approximation without getting into the weeds of what an extension could look like
End result 2023 cap space: $17,959,310

The Chargers may have to make several more moves beyond these, with a major decision looming on wide receiver Keenan Allen, who is owed $19 million in 2023. Allen missed roughly half the season, breaking a streak of five straight years with at least 100 receptions (including playoffs), but he earned an 84.4 receiving grade and averaged nearly 10 targets, 7.5 receptions and 87 receiving yards from Week 11 through the end of the regular season once healthy.

While cornerback J.C. Jackson’s five-year contract provides a lot of flexibility, the Chargers may not want to push too much cap into the future given his injuries in 2022, with no guarantees beyond 2023. A massive extension for quarterback Justin Herbert should come this offseason and will require more room, and that's in addition to the draft class and any internal or external free agents the team wishes to bring aboard.


https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-fixing-teams-least-salary-cap-space-2023-free-agency

Nobody has said that the Browns couldn't generate cap space. What has been said is that they are creating that space by kicking the can down the road which will eventually have to show up as a cap charge. The number one issue the Browns face is that when pushing that money into prorated bonuses, they have zero opportunity to change that cost and when you do it like they have with players like Ward, they're pushing too much cap into the future given his injuries in 2022. You can sit with blinders on and say that 2023 is the only season that matters but before the Browns push any of that cost into the future, it should be known that by just giving Wills his 5th year option, the Browns will be sitting at a cap deficiency of ($24,171,171) for 2024 after the projected cap increase. This number is going to climb even higher once Berry starts making the moves he has to make to do anything this off season.

The ultimate goal is for the Browns to build a consistent winner and make it to a Super Bowl. That's not going to happen if the Browns have to start making cap cuts after 1 year of winning, assuming they are a winner in 2023. I remind you of the total disdain for some of the cap cuts made just last season. That will look like a walk in the park compared to what the Browns are setting themselves up for in the 2024 Jan - Mar cap adjustment period.

So... what you're saying is... we're just kicking the can down the road?

I am not going to make light about the cap.

It is important. But the Browns as well as all the other teams employ cap specialists. Berry is a highly educated guy who does not think only short term. He has spent his life preparing to be a GM. That includes structuring player contracts and managing the cap. Those components go hand in hand.

I trust his resume.

My concern is the roster this year. I am on the one year plan. That is what happens when you get older. You don't plan way down the road.

All I want is to win a Super Bowl once. I want to be the best for one year. Do that then I will look at next year.

While I understand what you're saying, I'm not sure how his history has ever addressed a situation like this before. His specialty to this point has been trying to find bargain players and staying well under the cap. The finding bargain players part seemed to work for him in baseball but didn't seem to transfer well to the NFL. Actually storing cap space for future expenditures has been what he's known for thus far in the NFL.

I'm not saying he can't or won't be able to pull it off. Maybe he can. But I've seen nothing in his history that addresses being 14 million over budget and how he would or would not deal with that situation.

Of course, they are "just kicking the can down the road." Every team does it but not at the level the Browns are doing it. I posted that information earlier and received nothing but negative shots of its unimportance, but the Browns have more 10M plus per year contracts than any other team in the NFL and every one of those contracts have had salaries prorated by kicking the can down the road. You're already seeing that effect where the cap charge presently for 2023 is more than 86.5M more than last year's 2022 cap charge. Keep this in mind, the cap increased by 16.6M over 2022, one of the largest increases in the history of the NFL and the Browns had a carryover from 2022 of $28,271,248 (even after signing Conklin to his new deal) and they are still ($13,415,552) over the cap as we speak.

Now Berry will fix the cap this year by kicking that can down the road again, but that can is quickly turning into a drum and then he'll have no choice but to start cutting players, if he can. If you were pissed about Landry and JC Tretter last year (which by the way netted the Browns zero additional wins), wait until you see the cuts that are coming because of this Berry cap philosophy.

I did not see anything about him and baseball.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Berry_(American_football)



I would think that his previous time in Cleveland and his time in Philadelphia working with Roseman has prepared him.

Along with his education and the importance of being prepared as possible.

Callum Mahoney Salary Cap & Contract Analyst.

https://brownswire.usatoday.com/202...-in-the-front-office-and-scouting-staff/

I don't think the Browns or any NFL team that does not employ a full staff of people.

Sorry, I was speakimg of DePodesta who until recently was the person attributed with being the Browns salary cap czar. Lately that all seems to have changed.

Cutting players to save money is something new? Others did not know that? LMAO, stevie has it bad.

Which creates more holes to fill with lower paid players of lesser quality. It's all connected.

Tretter never played again.

Landry hardly played.

So, if and when the Browns cut Chubb next year because of his 16.2M contract (much like the Cowboys are considering with Elliott's 16.72M contract because they can get Pollard on a franchise tag for 6M less) and Cooper because of his 23.77M contract, you'll be perfectly fine with moving on from Chubb and Cooper with no questions asked to get under the cap? Hang on to your hat because it's a coming baby!

From my understanding Depo is not a cap specialist.

What he does (I could be wrong) is find ways to use analytic information to assist in decisions.

That is looking at things that were first applied to baseball. Advanced stats that could provide an edge.

Historical information like physical traits of players at various positions. Factoring age in the draft. Stats on down and distance and going for it on 4th down.

Any statistical information that might give you an edge. It could apply in contracts to things like historically giving running backs a contract after 30. Or, what round to draft certain positions.

Depo was with Billy Beane in Oakland they brought analytical principles of sabermetrics into the mainstream. Haslam hired him to look for ways to duplicate what he had done in baseball and apply to the NFL. If you look at MLB today it is a different game because of sabermetrics.

Berry's background is football and all that is involved in being a GM.

Once again, you are celebrating bad news for the Browns. What a sad, little man.

Chubb? How did you not know that I have already said that I think Chubb is gone in 2024 numerous times. He might make it through that year, but I doubt it. You reply to me all the time. How could you have missed me saying that several times?

I really had no idea that you thought you were breaking news to all of us about the Cap and that it was far worse than it actually is. Tough decisions have to be made. You have to plan ahead and decide your long range plan and act accordingly. We see teams make tough cuts every freaking year. It's not anything new. We all know what it's about.

The time to build your roster is when your QB is on his rookie contract. You add as many pieces as you can while that qb is not making much. Tough cuts will be made down the road, but the idea is to accumulate a lot of talent and you hope that the rookie qb can be the guy to lead you to success for a decade or more. Unfortunately, our rookie #1 overall pick was not very good and we had to move on from him. That sucks, but the Browns made the right move by not giving him a new contract and dumping him. They rightly identified they needed an elite qb and somehow they pulled it off when I thought they had no chance of acquiring a QB of Watson's stature either through a trade or the draft. That kind of talent really never makes it to free agency.

I believe the Browns under Berry value certain positions more than others and that is going to affect how they manage the cap moving forward.

I think they value QB, CB, the OL, and DE. I expect that the Browns continue to pay those positions.

I don't think they value S, WR, RB*, and DT as much. I suspect this group will be the cap casualties, although I wonder if they will change their perspective on WRs? Also, perhaps Schwartz might influence them to reconsider how they view DTs?

Not quite sure about TEs, but I am leaning that they think it is a valuable position. I say that because they paid Njoku last year.

Who knows if they will be successful or not, but personally I find it hard to believe that all these intelligent men are not going to be able to make the right moves financially. I also think that people who claim they are clueless are out of touch w/reality.

*I want to add this about how I think they feel about RBs. I believe they value them on the field, but like pretty much every other team out there, they realize that it is the easiest position [along w/SSs] to add really great talent at a minimal cost.

Btw----I'd like to see some feedback on which positions the Browns value over others and how that might affect how they allocate their allotted dollars.

Browns, WR/KR Jakeem Grant agree to a renegotiated deal to his reduce cap hit

Cory Kinnan
February 25, 2023 10:38 am ET

As the Cleveland Browns are just at the beginning of clearing cap space to give them some big-time money to spend in free agency (yes, they will clear quite a bit of cap space), they have made their first move. The Browns and wide receiver/kick returner Jakeem Grant have agreed to renegotiate his contract, dropping his cap hit by $1.765 million this season. The full terms of the new deal have not been released yet.

Look for the Browns and quarterback Deshaun Watson to restructure their deal as well, which will clear a great deal of cap space in 2022. Safety John Johnson III will likely be a post-June 1 cut designation, which would clear about $10 million as well.


https://brownswire.usatoday.com/202...medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter

Who'd a thunk it?

People need to realize the cap is kinda like a seatbelt in an airplane.. sure it looks like it has a purpose, but in reality doesn't stop much. Good teams know how to manipulate it.. Look at the Rams this year.. sure it didn't help them but they added a ton in the offseason.

True and they are cutting players this off season. How'd that work out for them last year? Teams all across the NFL do it. I have the knowledge to understand that thought process due to dealing with finances my entire career. However, when you have the most players in the NFL that you are restructuring, either you're the all-time genius in cap manipulation or you're heading for a major crash. I've stated my opinion on it and will continue to do so.

That's fair.

Who? ... WHO?? ... no really and I know who he is, but, WHO?? They renegotiatied Grant, the guy with about 2 career returns and that's it. Oh, did he catch a pass in a preseason game? Well, ... they locked him up, he's staying a Brown.

This is difficult to understand, but the point of why I posted the article was highlighted in green and that Browns have avenues to manipulate the salary cap and it isn't quite as dire as urkel makes it out to be.

There it is - can always count on you hijacking the thread with your constant name calling and attacks. You being you!

unless you draft really well... with the new pay structures rookie contracts don't hurt a team too badly... which also means if you can draft really well you can load up on some cheap talent...

edit: of course historically we haven't drafted really, really well and we don't have first rounders the next couple of years

Exactly.

If you really want to see a team manipulate the salary cap, take a look at the KCC and how they structured Mahomes 450M contract. Only 3 years of base salary over 20M and those are all the last 3 years of the contract. Prorated bonus money never goes higher than 6.2M and no prorated bonus after 2025. The vast majority of Mahomes contract is sitting in yearly roster bonuses and the Chiefs can walk away from the contract anytime after 2024 with little to no cost (4.3M in 2024, zero dollars every year after that - 7 years). Mahomes is signed through 2031 but the Chiefs have an out every year from 2024 on.

This may be of interest to you.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl...estructure-deal/lskrga7fudcdcjzaiek2uaxq

That's a great article outlining potential options.

And none of them look good at this point except to kick the can down the road.

Thanks for the article, it is appreciated. I hope you read it also because it states exactly what I have been saying. Creating cap this year can certainly be done by playing with Watson's salary, but it plays havoc in future years. 1) do nothing, have no cap availability and have the highest cost QB in the NFL 2) restructure, have cap for this year, create the highest cost QB by more than 20M more than any other NFL team for the years 2024, 25, and 26 or 3) start adding void years which will eventually make Watson unaffordable by year 4 or 5 and never being able to afford an extension.

I know nobody here wants to hear the story but deferring costs like the Browns are doing has consequences. Right now, 3/2/2023 @ 10:55, the Browns are committed to $68,311,563 in prorated bonuses to their players and another $11,566,064 in dead money for players not even on the Browns any more for a total of $79,877,627 in deferred costs the Browns must have count against the cap this year. Just an FYI, that's 35.53% of the 2023 NFL team cap.

Once the Browns restructure Watson and start signing FA's this number is going to spike for 2023 but will be minor considering what they will be looking at next year.

AS of today, teams with most prorated bonus and dead cap money for 2023 (highlighted teams missed 2022 playoffs)

1. New Orleans - $96,510,369 prorated bonuses - $5,038,479 dead money = $101,548,848 or 45.17% of NFL cap
2. Green Bay - $75,658,592 prorated bonuses - $16,952,198 dead money = $92,610,790 or 41.19% of NFL cap
3. Cleveland - $68,311,563 prorated bonuses - $11,566,064 dead money = $79,877,627 or 35.53% of NFL cap
4. LA Rams - $68,617,623 prorated bonuses - $4,423,395 dead money = $73,041,018 or 32.49% of NFL cap
5. Dallas - $63,555,391 prorated bonuses - $8,642,623 dead money = $72,198,014 or 32.12% of NFL cap
6. Buffalo - $68,632,293 prorated bonuses - $1,663,000 dead money = $70,295,293 or 31.27% of NFL cap
7. San Francisco - $50,831,871 prorated bonuses - $17,085,988 dead money = $67,917,859 or 30.21% of NFL cap
8. Tampa Bay - $58,813,399 prorated bonuses - $7,942,466 dead money = $66,755,865 or 29,69% of NFL cap
9. Arizona - $55,705,305 prorated bonuses - $9,229,638 dead money = $64,934,943 or 28.88% of NFL cap
10. Detroit - $50,150,226 prorated bonuses - $10,256,219 dead money = $60,406,445 or 26.87% of NFL cap
11. Minnesota - $51,822,822 prorated bonuses - $3,818,911 dead money = $55,614,733 or 24.73% of NFL cap
12. Denver - $53,116,837 prorated bonuses - $1,585,866 dead money = $54,702,703 or 24.33% of NFL cap
13. Kansas City - $45,119,831 prorated bonuses - $98,428 dead money = $45,218,259 or 20.1% of NFL cap

I would rather have DW and juggle money than be in line for a quarterback other teams don't want.

This is a tad hyperbolic.

Look, its deferring money no matter how anyone looks at it and it has been done for decades in the NFL. What feels somewhat new to me, but maybe it is not, are these void years becoming more and more popular. Teams eat contracts all the time and it goes on the books for the season. However, it seems like many teams are ok with paying players in multiple years when no longer on the contract. I don't think it is as bad as people claim it to be at this point, and the ongoing, increasing future cap projections are likely the reason why, but a team or GM could let it get out of control.

One thing I keep in mind is $15M (arbitrary figure) on the books in a current cap year is not the same as $15M in a future cap year(s). Meaning, the percentage of that figure on your books will be lower as the cap, almost undoubtedly will increase. And if there is a void year of $15M five years from now, thinking of the valuation of that amount/contract as "havoc" relative to your potential spend seems wildly premature. This particularly holds true to a QB like Watson who you traded for in the hopes he is your QB for the next decade....and if so, then he is on your roster far longer than the void year and you renegotiate around that. If he's not, there are other issues and the void year paying him is somewhat mitigated by the QB you just drafted on his first year rookie deal.

In addition, this is absolutely the time to be pushing the 'salary cap envelope' figuratively speaking. It's the reason the Browns saved all the cap space and would roll it over from year to year when they were not truly in a window to contend. The Browns have positioned themselves well for this point in time. They ate a bunch of ramen noodles and PB&Js for years, it's ok to order the steak and lobster now without worrying you'll go bankrupt.

Berry and DePo have already plotted the salary cap out for not only next year but three and five years down the road. Will the Browns lose some good players due to salary cap constraints in the future? Of course. This is not a new phenomenon in the NFL, it's just not something we have experienced because the team has never been in a contending position since the return.

For myself I have never cared about the finances in sports.

I do not care how much players make. I have full confidence in Berry and company to manage the cap.

I am on the short term plan squinting into the future. I care about who is on the roster this year.

If the Browns could sign DJ Chark, Bates, Hargrave, Tomlinson, and Marcus Davenport. I would be thrilled. I know that is not happening though.

I just want Berry to get the best players he can get. I want the Browns to try and win the Super Bowl in 2023.

Great post - very well thought out. Rest assured however, that my opinion on the Browns cap situation has taken most if not all of your considerations into account. The figures I posted are reference to only this year and are based on previous moves coming to roost in 2023.

To put this in perspective:

The cap increased 7.97% (as predicted) for 2023 and the Browns had a carryover of $28,271,248 which as of this moment, not only has the increase and carryover been spent but their cap is actually ($11,650,552) more spent than available. I am perfectly aware that Berry is going to address this shortfall.

Now today, before Berry makes any moves at all, the Browns prorated bonus spend for 2023 is $68,311,563 for the top 51 players. This number cannot go down through restructure and only can go up depending how many restructures he does with current players, FA's, and draftees and or cuts this off season.

For 2024, the Browns prorated bonus number is already at $65,262,030 for 35 players under contract and the Browns are currently predicted to be ($5,611,171) over the 2024 projected cap. What the Browns do to free up money for 2023 will increase this prorated bonus number. What the Browns do with the 2023 contract structure with FA's and draftees will only increase this number.

At this point, purely conjecture, the 2024 prorated bonus number will be a minimum 12% higher than this year's number and that's with only restructuring Watson in 2023. The NFL cap increase was only 7.97% in 2023 so if it stays pat at that level of yearly increase, the Browns prorated bonus increase is significantly higher than the projected cap increase. That is a plan to fail. Add to that thought, the Browns will not be carrying the 28M plus carryover they are carrying this year either unless Berry's plan is to only spend about 4M-5M total on this year's FA's and draft class after restructuring Watson.

As you can see, I have taken into account the increases and the valuation drop. My opinion of the cap presenting "havoc" is thus not wildly premature. In fact, financially, it could be considered more as "slighting the problem" on the immediate horizon.

I would be much more comfortable being/getting on the edge of cap purgatory IF we were there because we had/have a playoff winning team...the problem is that we didn't/don't. We need 2-3 new starters on the DL...another starter or 2 at LB...a starting FS...and a REAL #2 WR...with salary cap issues and no #1 pick on the way.

How do you get to a point with so many needs and having already spent a bunch of money?

But not necessarily in full in 2024. I'm not saying that is good or bad, but it's important to point out as you refer to the $65M prorated stuff. And again it could be in the form of a void year 3-5 season from now where who knows the cap ceiling at that point (again this is something more attributable to Watson's deal or someone like Myles who we know isn't going anywhere anytime soon).

I'm not disagreeing with you for the fact I think everything is sunshine and rainbows in managing the cap. And anyone that's remembered by comments on contracts in the past, I think we've wildly overpaid for players or have taken on player via a trade when I believe it wasn't worth it. That isn't directly correlated to void years or prorated bonus structures, but just poor spending mgmt.

And I've shared my concerns about Berry putting a lot of contracts on the proverbial team credit card- there is no questions about it (A. Walker, Clowney, and Johnson come to mind). Void years and such are used by all teams and it seems like we are opting to pay far less annually by spreading it over multiple years in those particular situations.

But it seems to me the $65M prorated bonus dollars, which looks correct based on spotrac numbers so I don't dispute that, is allocated in most part, for 2024 starters - -Watson, Njoku, Garrett, Bitonio, Conklin, Cooper, Teller, Chubb, etc., so it's not like this money is dead on the roster and it's going to be filled with new high dollar contracts for starters like we are paying fired coaches in the past. I think that added context is important when talking about the future of cap management and that $65M number, and even the 2025 prorated number. Further, as it relates to some of the players' overall contract in that $65M number, I believe you even gain cap space in 2024 by cutting some. Teller ($9M) comes to mind as does Chubb ($12M), which people have assumed are prospects to be discussed next year as cuts and it has nothing to do with prorated bonus structures reeking havoc.

I'm just not at the sky is falling stage when there are SO MANY variables and don't think it's a reasonable position (yet).

Clicking the link is a better option because of a tweet and a video of Berry speaking can be viewed, but here is the text.

‘The rules are flexible’ to help Browns to create salary cap space, GM says

Fans and media seem more concerned than Andrew Berry

By JaredMueller@JaredKMueller Feb 28, 2023, 3:02pm EST 15 Comments / 15 New


The addition of QB Deshaun Watson had numerous tentacles of concern for fans of the Cleveland Browns. The off-the-field issues that led to Watson being available will linger for many fans. For some fans, the acquisition became a full stop to their support of the team.

The addition of Watson cost the Browns significant draft capital which has minimized fan interest in the NFL draft and created concern about the team’s ability to add enough talent around their quarterback.

The other limitation that has been focused on by both media and fans is the salary cap ramifications of Watson’s huge contract to go along with an expensive offensive line, extensions for Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward and Nick Chubb and Amari Cooper’s contract. Currently, Cleveland is projected to be $11 million over the salary cap.

GM Andrew Berry is not too worried about the cap, noting that it is an accounting tool that has multiple ways around it:


According to the cap expert at The OBR, Jack Duffin, Berry can create significant cap space pretty easily including waiting long enough to make the Baltimore Ravens pay more money in a franchise tag:


Duffin’s article has information on Jakeem Grant’s new contract and more details but its clear from just the information in the above tweet that Berry’s comfort is based in easy accounting moves.

As the Browns GM noted in the above video, creating cap space just to create cap space isn’t required (beyond getting below the current cap). While they can easily create space, Berry will only need to in order to make specific moves if they become available.

While fans and media may be concerned about the salary cap, Cleveland’s front office seems much less concerned.

https://www.dawgsbynature.com/2023/...ace-deshaun-watson-andrew-berry-flexible

Any team who is paying a premium for a quarterback has to manage cap space.

This is a business. Berry and his staff are paid a lot of money to manage salaries and the cap. This is not taken lightly.

"Kicking the can down the road" is part of the business. I don't think it should be perceived as a negative.

The option is have a quarterback on a rookie deal. Or, pay a guy who is most likely not that good.

We have Deshaun Watson because it was decided he would provide an opportunity to win a Super Bowl. We have to go all in.

We have to give Deshaun Watson as much support as possible. We have to build the best roster we possibly can.

I am glad we are doing that. Kick that can.

I get what you are saying and many here feel the same way. I'm ok with that thought process, part of being a fan. I will point out that the huge difference with other teams in the NFL is they have an out from their QB's contract. Some outs are better than others, some can even be called suspect. The Browns have no way out - zero - none - except for a trade but with another similar restructure, the Browns would be looking at 50M to 60M in dead cap if they traded Watson. Like I posted in an earlier thread, KCC can move on from Mahomes starting in 2025 and for the next 7 years with no dead money. That's a huge difference, especially when that's the team you're chasing.

I think you are missing the point.

What else could have been done? They went after DW along with other teams. They won because they closed the deal.

They are all in. Sure it is a calculated risk. I don't think you make that kind of investment without looking a him as long term.

Mahomes was signed at a different time 2020. Watch what happens with these guys who are now in negotiations.

The out is walk away after five years or resign him. I don't see the mystery.

Every team will kick the can. It is part of the business.

So what do you do have tons of cap and no team?

Where are we without DW? I will answer for you. We would be a team with little chance to do anything.

I lot of our perspective is based on our age. The first game I went to was in 1964. The last year the Browns won an NFL Championship. Our time on this earth keeps getting shorter and shorter. We're never sure just how many years we have left to see the Browns win a SB. As the window to our life gets shorter, the more urgent it becomes the Browns win a SB. It changes the way we look at things. At least I think it does.

Throughout the decades I wanted to see the Browns build a dynasty. Like the Patriots did. Like the Steelers of the 1970's. Like the Chiefs are becoming now. In a manner that would insure long term success and not a one shot wonder. But then I've been on these boards for decades now. I've watched guys like eotab, Peen and many others such as myself have time catch up to them. The less time you have left the more urgent a situation becomes. Some even to the point that no cost or cringe worthy circumstances stop that desire.

That's why I understand both sides of the coin and I don't see either side being right or wrong here. Us older guys have paid our dues for decades now and feel we deserve to see the Browns win a SB before it's too late for us. The younger guys are just like I was years ago. I wanted to see a team built the right way with long term success in mind. No temporary window would have sufficed for me then.

I think if we could all understand this it would cause a lot less strife among the two factions.

I don't think the NFL is structured for dynasties. In 1993 free agency changed things.

What the 1970's Steelers teams did will not happen again. The Patriots all I can do applaud. Great coaching and a GOAT.

You make get a window of a few years when you get a chance at a Super Bowl if everything falls your way.

But I doubt a dynasty will happen.

The AFC has the quarterbacks. But every team that has them face the same problems the Browns have. That is because of the pay structure on quarterbacks.

Lamar wants 5 years $250 guaranteed. Why not? The others will want close to the same.

I am not going pretend to question Andrew Berry in regards to cap management. He has way more information available to him and education in precisely what cap management entails.

I will question evaluation of talent. Like last year when I thought he grossly overestimated the capability of the DT position.

I may question his drafting. But when it comes to the cap. No.

I am hoping in free agency, the draft, or possible trades that Berry can assemble a roster to win the Super Bowl. The time to strike is now.

It seems the Chiefs are well on their way now. The Patriots won 6 SB's from 2002-2019. All well after 1993. I was simply trying to show that the timetable of a persons life may strongly impact their perspective between "win now at any cost" verses "build a team for the long haul".

Like you, I'm old guy, want Browns in SB- who cares what we want- salary cap- I think we've hossed some folks with DW deal, how'd you like to pay what KC QB will ask for....WOW!!! Our GM will get money right, hope he hits more draft picks.

The Chiefs won a Super Bowl. The sentence ends there. Well on your way means nothing.

Like I said I applaud the what the the Pats did. They stand alone. Nobody else has done it.

They had great coaching and the GOAT. Until another team does that. They stand alone.

Sure I am old. I want to win once. If we won it once. I would want to win again.

But I don't think dynasty.

I really do not see any alternatives. The Browns IMO have done the right thing. They took a calculated risk. You agree with them or not.

I am glad that IMO we have a decent shot with DW. It may blow up. But I think they made the right choice no matter what happens.

KC doesn't have to worry about it. They made the smart move. Mahomes signed the longest contract I've ever heard of and his contract doesn't end until 2032.

You mean two SB's. With Mahomes so far. Super Bowl LIV and Super Bowl LVII. And his contract doesn't end until 2032. Let's please not dance around the fact that they have found a long term opportunity for great success. And the proof is there. Dynasty is an odd word for sure. But setting your team up financially to compete for the long haul is much more quantifiable.

I noticed earlier you made reference to the NFL being business. I agree and point that out a lot when people seem to lean too heavily on the fan side of things without looking at the business side of things. Which brings me to this. Any and every business investments success or failure is solely dependent in return on investment. If the return on investment isn't realized from the watson deal, it failed. Maybe I'm just a bit unfamiliar with the concept that no matter what happens something was still a good choice.

Exactly, and it's structured where starting in 2025 they can get out of the contract without any cap penalty. That's 7 consecutive years they can move on from Mahomes if deemed necessary. IMHO, the only way Jackson gets a 100% guaranteed contract is if it's a 2-3 year deal only. With his injury history, giving him a 5-year or more deal is insane. I also expect the same situation with Burrows and Herbert. If they start talking insane guarantees like Jackson, I fully expect the Bengals and Chargers to both exercise the 5th year options on those guys in May keeping them under contract the next 2 years.

Jake Burns posed an interesting question on today's podcast episode. He asked, how many Browns players currently on offense can you be certain will be on the roster in 2025? He said Watson and Njoku. This led to him discussing the rationale of pushing the chips in in 2023 and 2024 to go for the Super Bowl.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...e-episode-5/id1434698084?i=1000602588180

The Browns made the move that IMO had to made.

There is no guarantee that the move will result in a championship. It gives them a shot that they would not have had.

It may work out. It might not there are a lot of factors at play. It was still the right choice IMO.

Maybe we get close and don't win it all. There a a bunch of really good teams with the same goal.

I don't see him completely bombing. It could happen and if it did then it was a big mistake.

The entire circumstances of Mahomes in KC is completely different than DW coming to Cleveland.

Again he was drafted 10th overall in 2017. His contract extension was in 2020 when he was a known entity.

When you see what you got in Mahomes sure you look to sign him to the type of contract he got.

DW came to Cleveland under completely different circumstances.

I do not think they are comparable.

We'll have to agree to disagree. A QB is a QB, where you fall in that pecking order is the only difference. Mahomes is the best QB in the NFL and he was only given Fully Guaranteed Money: $63,081,905. That's a far cry from 230M guaranteed given Watson. Now we neither have any idea how this will work out for the Browns but what we do know is they are committed to 230M without question. Rodgers only received Fully Guaranteed Money: $101,415,000. Prescott received Fully Guaranteed Money: $95,000,000. The type of commitment to Watson is off the charts and though he may give the Browns a better chance to win, at what cost to the team as a whole will it eventually affect? Is Watson twice as good as the above listed players that he can demand more than double the guarantee?

I realize you and others want to ignore my concern and that's ok with me. However, I see bad things on the horizon and if the Browns don't win it all in 2023, their odds will start diminishing from that point forward because of their huge cap commitments and eventual inability to do anything with Watson's cost. As far as Berry goes, he's in his first GM job and I find it highly unlikely that he is smarter than the other 31 GM's who have taken a different approach to managing their teams. After 3 years with 2 of those having losing records, I don't believe Berry has earned the right to be classified as doing a good job. I hope he turns it around this year because IMHO, the clock is ticking and anything less than a deep playoff run will be deemed a failure.

I'm anxiously waiting to see what Berry has up his sleeve to improve this team.

Once your rookie deal is over everything is the same for all NFL players in terms of signing contracts. The only difference is KC got Mahomes on a rookie deal when he was drafted. Once that contract was over, they had to pay him just like everyone else has to pay a QB.

j/c:

Deshaun Watson reportedly OK with contract restructure
Browns QB willing to help the team achieve some salary cap relief, according to cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.

By Thomas Moore@Tom_RedRight88 Mar 5, 2023, 1:04pm EST 0 Comments / 0 New

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry spoke with an air of confidence last week when asked about the team’s salary cap situation.

The Browns are currently a bit more than $13.4 million over the salary, but Berry addressed the situation at the NFL Scouting Combine by pointing out that the league’s rules are “flexible” and there are several ways that teams can create cap space, including releasing players, swinging a trade or restructuring a deal with a current player on the roster.


‘The rules are flexible’ to help Browns to create salary cap space, GM says
Berry already announced plans to release safety John Johnson III to save $9.75 million and there are a handful of players who could be in line for the restructured contract discussion, with quarterback Deshaun Watson being at the top of the list.

Watson is currently toting a cap charge of $54.9 million for the upcoming season, but if Berry wants to talk about changing that, Watson is on board, according to cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.

There is no word on which direction the Browns and Watson will go on a restructured deal because, as Berry pointed out, there are a few available options. The club can convert part of Watson’s base salary into a signing bonus, add voidable years to the contract, or give Watson an extension.

No matter what they ultimately do, it should be noted that Watson is going to receive every penny of the $230 million guaranteed contract, so there is really no risk in him working with the Browns to help provide some flexibility to add players to the roster.

One other area that is worth watching is the timing of Watson’s restructuring. With the Baltimore Ravens and quarterback Lamar Jackson currently in a contract stalemate, the Ravens have until Tuesday to decide if they want to place the franchise tag on Jackson. If the Ravens do that, they would be choosing between the exclusive franchise tag of around $45 million, or the non-exclusive tag at a cost of around $32.4 million.


The exclusive tag price is calculated by averaging the top five salaries at a given position, so if the Browns hold off until after Tuesday then Watson’s current salary will help drive up the price the Ravens would have to pay Jackson.

_________________________________________________________
#Browns Currently Cap Space ($11,650,552)

Restructures
Watson +$35.936m (post Lamar tag, costs Ravens more)
Garrett +$12.936m
Teller +$9.136m
Bitonio +$7.868m

Cap Space $53,475,488

June 2nd
JJ3 +$9.75m

Browns don’t need permission to restructure!https://t.co/mDrfBcHuik

— Jack Duffin (@JackDuffin) February 28, 2023
_________________________________________________________

While Watson’s contract puts him at the top of the restructuring list, Berry could also approach a few other high-priced players in the weeks to come, including defensive end Myles Garrett, cornerback Denzel Ward, running back Nick Chubb, and guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller.

https://www.dawgsbynature.com/2023/...-reportedly-ok-with-contract-restructure

I remember playing kick the can when I was a child. Why wouldn't watson be okay with it? He's gong to get the 230 million either way.

The above statement is false:
It's widely expected that Lamar will be offered the Exclusive Franchise Tag, currently estimated to account for $45.2M in 2023. This number comes with a few conditions. 1) Since the actual official exclusive tenders won't lock until April, the Ravens will be able to account for the non-exclusive price ($32.4M) until that happens. 2) Many of the top QB cap hits are going to be restructured (or released) in the coming weeks, largely changing the end result for this exclusive price point. It's perfectly plausible that Lamar's exclusive tag price is only slightly larger than the non-exclusive figure when it's all said and done.


What the above doesn't tell you is all those restructured contracts will put the Browns more than 30M over the projected cap for 2024 before anything is done with any trades, FA's or draft picks in 2023. Not a single player added to the 2023 current contracted roster and over 30M over the projected cap for 2024. Nice work for the future!

You keep harping on this.

What is the solution?

We have DW.

So the answer is the business practice of the NFL is to do what the Browns are doing.

"So the answer is the business practice of the NFL is to do what the Browns are doing."

Except that the Browns are doing it at such an extreme pace that if they falter in 2023, they are setting themselves up for failure. In three short years, the Browns have gone from having the most available cap to a point where on March 1, 2023, before any moves are made, the Browns have made the most players of any team in the NFL with 10M plus contracts and they are getting ready to add to that number, the 3rd most prorated bonus money structured into their cap and they're getting ready to add to that number, and a team over 11M over the cap even after already spending over 22M in carryover cap from 2022. All of this while sporting 2 consecutive losing seasons with each being worse than the previous one.

The first thing the Browns need to do is to build a team that can win, that has not been the case for the last 2 seasons. Only after they have the nucleolus of a winning team should they be concerned about a Super Bowl. 33 straight seasons the Steelers have finished with a better record than the Browns. The Browns have never won the AFC North. Mortgaging the future does not build a consistent winner.

So, of course I'm going to keep harping on this. I'm not against spending money - I'm against spending dumb money. Berry and the Browns are spending dumb money and to make matters worse, prorating most of that dumb money. A perfect example of this is Njoku who is scheduled to be an 18.393M cap hit in 2024. If they decided to cut him, it will cost the Browns 13.279M. Just an FYI, Kelce's cap hit for the Chiefs in 2024 is $15,551,944 or 2.841M less than Njoku and Njoku isn't or never will be as good as Kelce. Example 2, if Ward has another horrible year like he had in 2022, it will cost the Browns 27.774M to cut him. Berry is creating contracts that give him zero options of moving on if deemed necessary. Just look at what he's has to absorb because of the last 2 years - Hooper costing the Browns about 11M over 2 seasons (7.5M in 2023), Johnson is going to cost the Browns 3.75M this season and 8.85M next season, and Clowney is going to cost the Browns 4.8M this season and none of these 3 guys will take a snap in 2023 in a Browns uniform but cost is 16.05M for them and there's actually more!

Yep, I'm going to keep on harping on this - my opinion on a forum full of individual opinions.

The first thing the Browns need to do is to build a team that can win, that has not been the case for the last 2 seasons. Only after they have the nucleolus of a winning team should they be concerned about a Super Bowl. 33 straight seasons the Steelers have finished with a better record than the Browns. The Browns have never won the AFC North."

What does the past have to do with now?

Like I said there is a cost to have DW. The last two seasons we did not have a viable quarterback. How did having cap space help that?

Everything you post always comes with a negative slant. It is like you begin research to prove all that is wrong. You bring up nothing but what stands out as negative never anything that has been right.

We got Deshaun Watson. Let's start there. We have pro bowl players.

Forget it. I am not going to go back and forth.

That's because you only read and comprehend the parts that will fit your agenda. I consistently say the Browns have the best guards in football. I consistently say the Browns have the best DE and RB in football outside that Chubb's contract may be prohibitive. I'm on record as saying Pocic was a steal, and they should resign him. I really like Conklin but his extension was a little too costly but sometimes you have to pay but his injury history of late scares me. The only o-line person I have an issue with is Wills and rightfully so based on his play the first 3-years. You would be hard pressed to find anything negative that I have posted about Emerson and Newsome. In fact, the Browns would be better off IMHO keeping these 2 guys and parting with Ward, but his contract and prorated bonus structure prevents that from ever happening now. I mean truthfully, do you honestly believe Ward came anywhere close to putting the type of product on the field in 2022 for the $23,041,000 the Browns actually paid him? Is that acceptable?

As far as Watson goes, my complaint is not with the contract money he signed for - that's a part of the business. My issue is and remains that he's a scum bag and a poor representative as the face of the franchise. That aside, I have a problem with paying him 46M in 2022 for the product he put on the field the 6 games he played and really tired of the excuses. He made 46 freaking million for that 6-game display that only had 1 half of football that could even close to being considered elite. I think guaranteeing all 230M was a mistake and a desperation move by the Browns. Desperation moves usually backfire. I disagree with continuing to push his cap cost into the future when he's done nothing for the Browns as of yet that can validate that doing that is a smart move. His cap cost with another restructure is going to be north of 65M starting in 2024 and nearly 20M than any other teams QB cap cost starting in 2024 - that's a problem Berry has created.

I'm extremely negative about the consistent problem on the D-line and that's all Stefanski and Berry. For 3 seasons it's been a weak spot and as of today, still remains a weak spot. WR has been a problem since 2020 and is still not fixed. Cooper and DPJ had decent years this year but let me ask you - do you think any team in the NFL has to adjust their defense for the Browns WR's? Is there any receiver on the Browns in any of the last 3 years, WR or TE, that teams would fear of taking over a game? Answer: Resounding Nope! That in itself should tell you the quality of our WR & TE group and I lay that squarely in Berry and Stefanski's lap.

I do not have an agenda.

DW and off field have nothing to do with this. How you want to characterize him if up to you.

What he was paid last season should be on no concern to you. Your agenda is coming thru loud and clear.

Desperation? Again agenda.

And do what resign BM? Get in line for quarterbacks others walk away from.

Getting DW was a calculated risk. Based upon many factors. It is your problem if you can not understand them.

You are extremely negative period.

Forget the six games. Again if you can not see reasons then I can't explain them.

Did the Browns not have Odell? Did they not trade for Cooper who was the fourth pick in the draft?
How many receivers in the NFL scare teams and always require double teams?


You have been negative on KS since your first post. Cherry picking stats. Part of the reason DW came to Cleveland was KS. If you think KS incompetent. All I will say is I disagree and so do the people in charge of the Browns. Berry has made some mistakes. I have pointed them out.

You somehow think you know more about being a GM than Berry. Know more about the cap as well. You do not.

Keep posting your agenda.

I will watch them play and enjoy the games with the hopes they go far.

There is certainly the "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" ring to some people's posts. I mean maybe people don't see that as having an agenda but it's surprising how some people can't see their own agenda, intended or not, but consistently point the finger in the other direction.

Steve has been more negative than most about some things but has also made positive posts. The fact people either can't see it or refuse to admit it speaks volumes. Consider this for just a moment. You tell people they have a right to their opinions on one hand, then criticize their opinions on the other hand.

I would like to know what Cooper's draft position has to do with anything?

This is a team that went 7-10 last season and you act as though there aren't legitimate reasons to criticize them. That's just nonsense.

Learn to use your words. My belief is in the evidence not the imaginary.

"This is a team that went 7-10 last season and you act as though there aren't legitimate reasons to criticize them. That's just nonsense."

BS I have criticized them.

Cooper? Read what he asked. Cooper is considered a number one receiver. His draft spot verifies that. However, that is not the point. Read his question about receivers.

"You tell people they have a right to their opinions on one hand, then criticize their opinions on the other hand."
And you would argue with stump. No matter what anyone says about anything.

"There is certainly the "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" ring to some people's posts." Don't sugar coat it. If I am some people say it.

I have been critical where I see reasons. On the other hand I don't go looking for every possible way I can find to say that KS, AB, and the Browns suck.
You can characterise that anyway you wish.

I said I disagree about his opinion on KS.



You know what? Steve can write for himself. I don't think he requires you to speak for him.

Posting on any matter is not a "requirement" but it is allowed per the rules. Sorry that bothers you. I too have been supportive of Stefanski, but this coming season will tell the tale. And don't try to sum up what you said about "I said I disagree about his opinion on KS". You went on a tirade about agenda, negativity and so on. None of that has anything to do with Stefanski. And as much as I hate to break it to you, where a player is drafted still has nothing to do with their NFL performance. But yes, Cooper is still among what the NFL rates as a #1 WR. Not in the top 20, but still.

I certainly hope this FO and coaching staff thinks the way Steve does. If not there are many things that won't get fixed. As we can see Haslam is becoming a sports mogul. He has investments in the NFL, professional soccer and now the NBA. He expects things to be fixed and maximum return on his investments. 7-10 isn't that and there is a lot more to fix than the Sunny In Philadelphia crowd would like to address. You can't fix what you refuse to see.

Tirade? I don't think so.

steve and kick the can has been in damn near every thread no matter the title.

I pointed it out.

Everybody is aware of the cap. We understand.

Cuts to vets for cap reasons is part of the NFL. Business as usual; happens all the time. Why would any player not want his contract guaranteed? Because when the guaranteed money is gone their contract means little. They get cut for cap reasons. When you pay for a top rated quarterback everybody knows how their salary has an impact.

We are not in free agency yet. The draft is late April. The final roster is far away.

Yet the last two seasons is every thread. If you and steve can not see the reasons. No sense in spelling them out.

Everyone knows the importance of this season. Not the last two years or the history as far back you wish to go.

I have stated in numerous ways that this year AB is going to have a huge task with money available and draft capital. It is no mystery.

Haslam and the FO rolled the dice on DW. IMO there were few options and none that gave them more of a chance to win now.

steve wants to moan about "the six games." All a part of kick, the can, we suck. Again coming from the negative 6 games versus his career numbers before.

If steve wants to post that fine. I will respond.

The Browns have more cap dollars to spend in 2023 than any other team in the NFL yet the Browns are still currently $12,897,864 over the cap with the adjusted figure. To make any moves they have to do restructures just to fill out the roster. No worries, they will just kick that can down the road again! 31M more than the Super Bowl Champion Chiefs already and still not enough to compete with them without more restructures. Hey, the Browns don't have any cap issues though - RIGHT!

I liken the salary cap to the federal debt cap. Just change numbers. Then raise the limit. Play games with it. It will burn teams in the future, just as it will burn this country - sooner rather than later. With a team, it's "Oh well". With a country, it's deadly alarming.

BTW, the rumored cut of Clark frees up 21M and gives the Chiefs over 18M for free agency and the draft. Hard decision on Clark (age 30) but no future costs involved from his release and was scheduled to be a FA next year anyway.

Must have had cap issues

I guess you can look at it that way or you could see that the movement of a single player has freed up the cap space they need in 2023 with zero dead cap dollars involved.

It's a $7.6M dead cap hit in 2023 from what I see.

But that's besides the point.

Speaking of the Chiefs.

Chiefs not expected to place second franchise tag on OT Orlando Brow

Published: Mar 06, 2023 at 02:38 PM
Kevin Patra

Offensive tackle Orlando Brown will have a shot to hit free agency.

The Kansas City Chiefs won't use the franchise tag on Brown, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero reported on Monday, per sources informed of the situation.

K.C. still has until next week to work out a potential long-term deal with the left tackle or he will be free to negotiate and sign with a new club when free agency begins on March 15.

Last offseason, Kansas City used the franchise tag on Brown after the sides couldn't come to a long-term agreement before the deadline. Using a second franchise tender on the left tackle would have cost the Chiefs $19.92 million in 2023. Given their current salary cap restraints, it was a figure that was too high to swallow.


https://www.nfl.com/news/chiefs-not-expected-to-place-second-franchise-tag-on-ot-orlando-brown

The Cleveland Browns adjusted cap number is the highest in the NFL for 2023

Jacob Roach
March 6, 2023 8:48 pm ET

The NFL has released their adjusted cap numbers which are factored in using the cap number plus roster bonuses, incentives, and rollover to add or subtract to a team’s salary cap. With all of that factored in the Cleveland Browns are tops in the NFL with an adjusted cap of $251, 771, 834 for the 2023 season.

The Browns will still be over the cap right now but there are plenty of ways to create cap space and when you add the reported post-June 1st cut of John Johnson the team will save nearly $10 million in space. The reports are also out that Deshaun Watson is open to restructuring his deal as well so the team will soon have plenty of cap space for free agency.

The NFL has finalized its year-end club adjustments, which factor in incentives, roster bonuses, carryover cap space, etc. That figure was then added to or subtracted from $224.8M to determine each team’s adjusted cap number for 2023.

A look at each team’s adjusted cap number: pic.twitter.com/sxbs04nXE6

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 6, 2023

https://brownswire.usatoday.com/202...medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter

I sure hope Berry has a plan to address that CAP issue. yikes...

Going to be the highest spending team in the NFL - the seats will certainly be very hot this year.

By 2025 we will know if Berry is a genius and smarter than everyone else in the NFL with contract manipulation to beat the salary cap --- or if too many fans bought into the Kool-Aid that the cap can essentially be worked around as it is possible to manipulate your way out of trouble every year and never actually have to pay the piper.

Looking at the 2023 Cap number - which will no doubt be manipulated and re-worked - but looking at where the Browns sit today on Cap dollars, the notion many pushed that Watson's contract was a non-factor appears to be faulty.

Of course, Watson's contract is a factor and if they restructure him again this week, it will become an even bigger factor. A similar restructure to last year could have 1 of 2 effects. If the Browns restructure him over 4-years rather than the normal 5 then Watson's cap hit for 2023 will be 21.303M and 2024 going forward would be 66.223M each season. Or they could go the 5-year route creating a void year which would reduce his 2023 cap to 18.066M and the next 3-years at 63.986M with the void year of 2027 having a non-contract prorated bonus cap charge of 8.993M.

No matter which way they go, based on other known QB contract cap hits, the Browns are looking at Watson's 2024 cap hit as being 20M more than any other NFL QB.

Thanks for that political post in the Pure football forum. We all appreciate that.

I didn't need to use purple did I?

I remember a few years back after we got Dorsey as our GM I said the time has come when we will have 2nd contracts coming, an experience we really never had befoyyyre and we must be wise in how we spend money especially FA.

QB, LT, Cover Corner and Edge Rushers as the rarest commodities Also a general attention to OL and the defensive front 7. RBs and WRs grew in attention especially the later due to fantasy football. But in the draft you could flll those positions from the draft with due diligency. Again a variable on why the Watson trade was a death trap for the Browns. We must now get better via FA - over pay. Well here we are in cap hell and not following a SB or deep in the playoffs.

jmho

I don't follow your logic. The rarest commodities cost the most. Once you've found them, you try to keep them. They are expensive, but they should be. (Economically speaking, and a lot of our FO's training/schooling was in economics, so I imagine much of their thinking is in economic terms.) I'm guessing the FO's planning has taken it into account. QB's seem to have the biggest impact in results, so they were seemingly willing to set aside the biggest chunk of the cap space for the position. I imagine they have different sized chunks of cap space designated for different positions.

I don't think over paying is the only way to improve as you seem to imply. Now we've got to get better at developing talent. If the right piece is available at the right price, and fits the positional cap percentages they've put in place, they may foray into FA. I expect them to look for more value signings than marquee names, though. I do wonder if Schwartz' input has shifted the percentages any, perhaps leading us to invest a large amount in one DL.

Winning free agency rarely ends in winning championships. The ability to develop players and find undervalued ones does. Any more though, you seem to need a great QB to have much of any chance. Hopefully we do have one now.

It wasn't that long ago when I read articles on here espousing how teams were trying to win the SB with QB's on rookie contracts because the theory was once you assigned a big slice of your team salary to one player (star QB) it was so much harder to win.

As I said - 2 years from now we'll know the reality.

When you have the big QB deal, you have to have lower costs somewhere to cover for that big deal. For 3 years now, Berry has been cheap with the DL, LB, and WR to have carryover cap. Berry got his QB but his areas of being cheap has been exposed as a serious weakness. I have no idea what Berry is going to do to fix the issues the Browns have but if he restructures Watson as predicted he'll have the money to spend. My worry though is the Browns will be at a minimum 30M over the projected cap in 2024 and could go as high as 70M depending what Berry does. I have a sneaking suspicion that Berry will make one big splash and go cheap everywhere else again so he has carryover cap to cover the 30M the Browns will already be over the projected cap for next year after restructuring Watson.

Browns have automatic right to restructure Deshaun Watson’s contract

There’s an important reason why quarterback Deshaun Watson is reportedly open to a restructuring of his contract. He has no choice.

Per a source with knowledge of the contract, the Browns have the right to convert “any portion” of Watson’s compensation (salary, bonuses, etc.) into a signing bonus, in any year of the contract.

This year, Watson has a $46 million salary and a cap number of $54.993 million. With a minimum salary for Watson at $1.08 million, $44.92 million can be converted to a signing bonus and prorated. That would push $33.69 million to future years, and it would drop Watson’s cap number to $21.3 million.

If the Browns want to spread the amount for more than the remaining years of the deal, a renegotiation would be needed. For example, the Browns and Watson could add a voidable year.

For now, though, the Browns can create $33,69 million if the team chooses, by converting most of his 2023 salary into a signing bonus. Whether Watson wants to do it doesn’t matter. Even though every dollar of the contract is fully guaranteed, it’s always better to have the money than to not have the money.

One last point — even though the money would become a signing bonus, it’s not subject to forfeiture in the usual sense. Per the terms of the deal, any potential forfeiture of the money converted to signing bonus ends when the next regular season concludes.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.c...to-restructure-deshaun-watsons-contract/

Steve I have to say that after reading your posts I know more about the cap than I ever did although I don't know if I could pass a quiz on it LOL!! I'm going to offer an opinion on what I feel went wrong putting us in the spot we're now in. I like AB and am happy we have him for a GM. I believe the FO and we the fans, thought we had our franchise QB in Baker. So, we began to sign our best players to 2nd contracts and extensions and that made sense. If you have your franchise QB you want to put a good OL in front of him and the weapons he needs along with some good D players because your window is open right now and maybe the next 2 years. Well, as we all know Baker wasn't it so now you have to go out and get a franchise QB which we did, who now has to be paid. We kind of put the cart before the horse but again I don't feel it's our FO's fault. Baker was fool's gold so to speak and now we are in a jam because of it. I fully believe AB is the right man to get things right. The thing that worries me is that right now the AFC is loaded with top QB's and talented teams. IT's probably one of the most difficult times for us to get to the SB. There are 6-7 good teams we will have to beat out. We will have to start replacing some of our best players in 2 or 3 years especially on the O-line and others may start slowing down. WE could be in a rebuild in 3 years if the right moves aren't made and even then I don't know if we can win the AFC. I remember that about 2 years ago many felt we had as much talent as anyone in the league. WE didn't know it then that we didn't have our franchise QB. JMO

The Browns are not in a bad spot. The cap can be manipulated and that has been true for all kinds of teams in the league for many years now.

That's good to know. Being able to do so will certainly help us out. AS I've stated I really believe we have the right guy in AB running things.

^This. Barry said it himself in the NFL Combine thread news. It's basically funny money as long as they pay everyone like they are supposed to.

Wait and see my friends. Funny money or whatever you want to call it has to be accounted for sooner or later. When the bill comes due there will be fan favorites being given their walking papers and some key star players because some players can't be let go because of the high dead cap the Browns would have to absorb - and it's coming faster than most would think as soon as next off season.

I'm not saying we aren't in cap hell over the DW contract because we are. But that was the gamble. I'm saying that we will easily be able to get under and still make moves. I have no idea how we can actually pay for those deals, but it sounds like Berry does, and that's all we need.

Will fans really be surprised when Bitonio, Teller, Chubb, Cooper and either Emerson or Newsome (Newsome likely the odd man out) are not on the roster come 2025? This is a large amount of cap space with minimal dead cap hit.

Seems obvious how Berry is setting up the team for the future.

Also, it's about time we have "good team" problems!

Yep. We got good team problems, so let's hope the good team shows up.

The assumption is that the Browns will be good in 2023 and 2024 according to your post. That's an unknown at this time an though we'd like to think that - it's an unknown. What I do know though is that your assumption that those moves will happen in 2025 is a year later than when such moves will begin to happen.

Nothing is guaranteed.

Teller and Chubb could be moved in 2024. Would not be surprising.

Again, all of this seems obvious.

curious to see how we restructure Watson's cap.

I think that is where most people are at. We know issues are going to be there, just like there have been issues for other teams for years. Yet, we are being force-fed multiple Salary Cap Apocalypse stories multiple times daily in several threads. It's great you find it so fascinating, but maybe you could keep you obsession w/the cap in this thread and stop trying to turn every single thread into a salary cap thread? I am not saying this in a mean way. I am simply asking that you consider that most people don't want to discuss a topic more than any other when the bottom line is that we "wait and see."

You can call it wait and see, but when you restructure those contracts to make cap room for one year, that bill comes due the next year, and so on and so on. Until you run out of years to push it down the road. That much you don't have to wait and see about. What happens when you're paying tens of millions to watson under this current contract when you're still paying tens of millions to him under his old contract at the exact same time? You can't continue to restructure his old contract after it expires. That's supposing he stays here after his current contract. The Browns could end up paying him tens of millions a year for a couple of years after he's gone.

Well maybe everyone is in agreement then ? I don't know. Maybe people are just writing from different levels of perspective or expectation.

I worry about the Cap situation because we have many many good players we drafted - Bitonio, MG, Ward, Newsome, Chubb - they are the reason we are good "today"/"Playoff year with BM" ... and I think Salary Cap pressures created by DW's contract mean we're going to have a good QB on a HUGE salary and the rest of the team is going to then suffer.

I've read so many posts from so many people that imply the salary cap is a non-factor. It's manipulated. Everyone does it and Berry is smarter and better at it than anyone.... the IMPLICATION being we can have our cake (DW) and eat it too (keep our good players, sign top FA's).

What I see more of now is a seeming shift from the posters implying the Cap is a non issue and implying Steve has a bee in his bonnet for no reason .... to people seemingly saying we can manipulate the Cap to keep Watson but it'll come at the cost of many/all/some of the really good players we have relied on for the last 4 years.... which to me is essentially admitting/agreeing the contract we gave DW is going to have an enormous impact on the team and what we can afford to pay/keep players.

Not one person has said the salary cap is a non-factor. Some of us have argued that it the constant doom and gloom forecasting by a couple of guys who are still butt hurt about Baker is overblown.

Teams make tough decisions all the time. Some of us trust Berry's ability to make those decisions more than we trust guys like you.

If only your explanation were honest and real. But it's not. Once again it's you who can't get Baker out of your brain. Sad, just sad.

At the time, the alternative to paying Watson was not having an upper tier QB.

What percentage of the salary cap do you think the QB should have?

Steve's argument seems to be that since we spent a lot of money at QB, we won't be able to spend a lot of money on (insert position). Well, if we spent the money on (insert position,) we wouldn't have been able to spend a lot on a QB. To me, if you're going to spend a lot on one player, QB is the place to do it. Having bad QB play isn't going to win a team a Super Bowl. Without a good QB, a team is essentially conceding that they're not going to compete for a title and in some ways are wasting their money on all the other players. The league and its rule changes have made the game more and more QB centric.

Well, the Browns are the only team paying their QB huge money. All the other teams are much more intelligent than the Browns and are paying their QBs peanuts. And everyone knows that Ivy League guys are uneducated and dumb.

You mean the Browns have guaranteed 100 million more than any other team in the NFL to its QB. We both know a contract is actually only worth the money that's guaranteed in the contract.

I'm trying to give steve a bit of a break. I've been known to continue an argument because I "knew" I was right. It's easy to get caught up in that and lose sight of whether or not the argument is worth having.

Yes, money spent one place can't be spent somewhere else. Perhaps instead of rehashing this fact from different perspectives, we could move on to people commenting on how they would allocate the cap position-wise, without considering specific players.

Non-guaranteed money still counts against the cap.

It certainly does. It does not however have to be placed in an escrow account at the time of signing the contract. That's where the 100 million more part comes in.

I wasn't directing that towards you. I actually agree w/your takes on the subject. I just think it's beyond absurd to think that teams are not going to pay a top qb.

j/c

Patrick Mahomes will account for 22.7% of the Chiefs adjusted cap for 2023. DeShaun Watson will account for 22.29% of the Browns cap before any re-structuring. (link) Yet, Mahomes deal was lauded as a great deal for the Chiefs, and Watson's deal is bemoaned as a horrible thing for the Browns.

Like most things, perspective has an influence.

Who says otherwise?

j/c:

A poster on the outside looking in on this conversation sent me a DM pretty much encapsulating the back n forth. Seems pretty spot on the me....

This.

I argued this before Baker was gone. Cash in the assets, move up in the draft, start stretching your spending towards the higher end of the cap. What I (we) got in return was an owner basically pushing almost all the chips in. The chips that are left belong in the middle of the table. Here's my opinion as to why...

This is a real simple flowchart... all the bickering about cap, cap space, "kicking the can", etc, are ancillary arguments.

First box:

Will Deshaun work out? With working out meaning returning to upper-echelon, pretty-damned-near-elite level of play. It either happens or it doesn't right?

So the next two boxes are:

YES. When "yes" happens you have a team capable of competing for the playoffs and championships for as long as his skills are intact. Then... mid-level free agents flock to you... you get your pick of the litter on reasonable contracts because everybody wants a ring. What is the first response from nearly every player (in every sport) once they are in the open market? "I want to go to a team that has a chance to compete for a championship". Top level talent is not much different other than the price tag is more stable (and higher) across the league. But make no mistake -- they nearly always choose Team A over Team Blah... You also, in many cases, have a roster full of players willing to restructure, take "less" and bend a little more than players on a crappy team. Good players on crappy teams want OUT. A less than stellar cap situation becomes much more manageable on a good team than on a bad one.

NO. If Deshaun is a "bust", where does that leave us? Very simple... screwed. To use a business term - bankrupt. Paying a QB too much money, up against the cap, no one wants to wear your colors... right?

So what then?? Chapter 11.

Very simple question... If you are going to crash and burn, does it matter how much you owe?? In a sports league, you strip down to bare bones and your creditor offers you discounts (high draft picks) to get back in the game. Some may even argue that the worse the situation is, the better... makes the turnaround faster. No wishy-washy trying to compete... set it all on fire and start over.

That is the game, here and now, in Cleveland. It was the second Baker got his b-a feelings hurt and wrote the letter. There was no plan 'B'.

Jimmy decided he was done sitting at the little-guy table and stepped into the high roller room. High rollers don't push 90% of their money into the middle and try to play frugal with the last 10% over concerns with 'rent money'.

Thanks for that update of an opinion from a single outsider. That carries a lot of weight. Oh, no it doesn't. Never mind.

Can we encourage this lurker to provide occasional recaps like this? I'd say one every eight posts should suffice. At least there would be some comedic value to help us all get through this thing.

Right? It was pretty good! I'll encourage him to post more.

As long as he includes the consideration that most who post on this board are inclined to think winning at all costs is the answer and the future be damned is their train of thought.

Aaaaand... back to the beginning.

And it will also play out in the end.

So... these are not the 'droids I was looking for. Got it.

I have no idea what you were looking for. It certainly seems as though facts aren't what you're looking for.

"You play to win the game."

The goal is and should be win the Super Bowl.

Most on this Board want to win the Super Bowl. I think I remember posts saying winning is all that counts.

The front office does the future planning. They signed DW to a five year deal. The goal is to win the Super Bowl.

After five years the goal will remain.

So, I do not think posters are saying the future be damned.

After five years if all goes well. They will try to resign DW. And players that are now on the team? Many will be gone. Vets will be cut as cap casualties. New draft picks will take roster spots. Players maybe traded. Some will retire. And the goals will remain the same.

j/c

To my read(s), I think most everyone on this board is within about an eyelash of the other when it comes to the cap, the talent, FA, the draft, front office, coaching, etc. The extent to each is the only noticeable outlier depending on the topic. Example:

Some think Ski needs to do a better job but shouldn't be canned...yet anyway. Some think Ski is the guy but needs to do some things better. Those debates get rather 'hairy' at times, but those opinions aren't all that far apart. It's rare to see an opinion that Ski needs canned today...or...that Ski should be here forever.

You could probably plug that sentence into other topis listed ^ and the statement would still be reasonable.

j/c...so don't get your panties in a wad:

Re-structuring does not CREATE cap space...it simply does not. It instead pushes cap dollars around. That's ok...that's how the rules were written...but there is no CREATION going on.

It's like when people babble to me about tax loopholes...there aren't any tax loopholes...the rules are written as they are written. There might be unintended consequences...but no loopholes and no cap creation - unless you cut a guy or he retires.

...if you dig a hole, did you not create a hole? The dirt had to go somewhere else, but you still created a hole where you wanted it.

When talking about cap space, the salaries you have are basically the dirt filling the hole (cap space) you have. In this case, when you dig out cap space in the current "hole," you move it to the future's bigger hole. You can do this over and over again, and you are definitely creating space in the current hole. You can still only fit so much in the current cap space, but creating space allows you to change the overall composition of what's in the hole/on your team.

Yes, restructuring just kicks the can down the road further. Teams that feel they have a shot keep kicking the can until they feel their window closed and then they pay the piper and start all over again. The Browns will kick the can each year until they feel this team no longer has a window to compete. At that time, they will pay the piper so to speak. That is why all of the crocodile tears some posters have been writing about our cap space is over blown to a point. It is like using a credit card and making the minimum payment possible until there comes a time that you have to pay off that credit card. Maybe an NFL version of Bernie Sanders will come along and offer debt forgiveness for teams!!!

I don't know this but I wonder if Watsons off field issues are why it was bemoaned. That's legit thinking that I share. I've always been a "character" matters kinda guy. But not everyone sees it that way.

The loss of draft picks..3 first round picks plus whatever else the Browns gave up should be added to the cost, imo.

It's a HUGE part of the cost.

I get the character side. Yet, that hasn't really been brought up much here on the boards recently. It's all been about his cap hit and potential future cap hits. It's like they've been arguing over and over that the sky is blue. Yes, that's the way it is. A veteran QB has a big cap hit. The sky is blue. That's just the way things work.

If the argument is you don't like the cap hit because of the character, there's something there to argue about and have different opinions on. If the argument is effectively that you don't like the cap hit because of the cap hit, it seems rather specious. That's the way it works for every contract. What's spent on one player can't be spent somewhere else. The sky's still blue.

If they wanted to argue they don't think they should spend x% of the cap on a QB, tell us what percentage they find is acceptable and why. Certain posters telling us the facts of the contract over and over and expecting us to blindly agree that the facts themselves are somehow bad has grown rather tiresome. It is what it is. The team can work with it. The sky's not falling, and it's still blue.

A lot of the argument also centers around one huge factor. Guaranteed money. In the end that's all an NFL contract is really worth. And watson's contract is worth every penny of that 230 million. That's not so for every other QB in the NFL.

And we already paid some of it since one year is gone although off hand I don't know how much.

I'm, not looking for some drawn out debate here. But watson's contract was restructured last year so that the salary cap hit was only 9.4 million for last year. That's why it increased over the remaining four years. If they restructure it again this year it will only increase even more over the remaining three years.

Cash wise, the Browns paid Watson 46M in 2022. Cap wise though, the Browns only accounted for $9,395,500 of the 230M so they are still responsible for $220,704,500 for cap charges the next 4 years as of today.

Thank you for the response gentlemen. So, after this coming season we will probably owe him no more guaranteed money than some QB that signs a new deal this year roughly speaking.

That will depend on if Berry restructures him again or not. If Berry does the same type of restructure as expected, the Browns would still owe cap charges of $198,669,000 over the last 3 years of his deal or $66,223,000 per season in cap charges. That would be close to 20M more than any other QB under contract today in cap charges.

Just an FYI, that would mean the Browns will have accounted for only $31,331,000 in two years for the 230M fully guaranteed contract.

If this years restructure is anything like last years, which would, let's round it off to the closest million and call it 10 million against the cap, that would leave a balance of over 210 million over the three remaining years of his contract. And no, I don't know of any NFL team that would be paying their QB 70 million dollars a year, do you? Now they may pay him more than 10 mil against the cap this year on a restructured deal. The rumor being floated is that it will balloon the remaining portion of his contract to over 64 million per year for the remaining three years of his contract and I don't know of an NFL team paying that much to their QB either.

If you mean the total of guaranteed money I haven't seen anything close to that 230 mil on the table for any QB on the FA market.

You're off on a this year cost of 10M again because they are locked into $8,993,000 from the first restructure and another $11.500,000 from this year's restructure and the $1,210,000 minimum salary for a total cap cost of $21,703,000 for 2023.

An interesting possibility is the Browns can move some of the money into void years (this would then be tacked on to any new deal) but to do that, Watson must agree and then the guarantee is no longer valid but Watson must agree to the new contract without guarantees. In case you're asking why, you can't guarantee money in non-contract years which includes void years. Such a move would then have no player with a fully guaranteed deal in the NFL.

So, here's the big problem with the Watson deal. As you can probably see from all the posts, teams are letting players go all over the NFL. It's a move every team goes thru every off season to create cap space for that season. The second way teams create this cap space is by restructuring deals and spreading that cost across 5 or less years as prorated bonuses. The key to this type of cap manipulation is the ability to get out of said contracts if deemed necessary with minimal dead money cost (usually caused by the prorated bonuses.) The cap savings always comes from the base salary. These cuts and restructures always occur after the player has used up the guarantees within their contract so the team can move on or not get double dipped.

Watson is an entirely different story because he has a 100% fully guaranteed contract. No matter what the Browns do outside of signing Watson to another deal, they will have to pay the entire 230M guaranteed contract. There is no out and the bill will come due much sooner than people think unless of course Watson signs a new deal without the guarantee - highly unlikely.

The problem is the Browns already have the highest amount of prorated dollars in bonuses in the NFL The Browns also have the most players under contracts valued over 10M per year. When you continually move those super high salaries to prorated bonuses you are eliminating your opportunity to rid yourself of those players without huge dead money. Johnson will cost the Browns 3.75M this year and 8.85M next year after playing only 2 of a 3-year deal but more importantly, of his original 33.75M deal, the Browns are saving 9.5M in salary but still owe the cap 12.6M in prorated bonuses they haven't accounted for yet. That's 37.33% of Johnson's original deal the Browns still have to account for on their cap even though he's no longer on the team.

They have a like situation with Hooper from last year and to a lesser extent Clowney who the now must claim a 6.4M cap charge this year.

Let's cut to the chase. Are you saying that our salary cap problems will prohibit us from being players in free agency this year? Didn't you say that we were going to lose Conklin for the same salary cap problems?

Here is the thing. The salary cap is not like real-life economics. It was put in place by the owners to help them line their pockets and to assist w/parity across the league. These owners are not going to go broke over these large contracts. They can always adjust the cap to maintain competitive balance. MLB, the NBA, and the NHL have guaranteed contracts. They are doing fine and they are not even close to the NFL in terms of popularity.

The key is to learn to manipulate the cap by using multiple methods. Kicking the can down the road is not the negative you make it out to be. It's part of the manipulation process because the owners are not going to run out of money.

There will be tough cuts, restructuring, etc, etc.

The question I really want to focus on is are you claiming the Browns won't be able to be players in free agency this year? If not, why all the hand-wringing and gnashing of the teeth? This isn't even close to us working stiffs trying to manage our bank accounts.

Plus, every year the cap will go up so that should alleviate some of the pressure on us to cut players.

We will have to cut players., just like every other team out there. None of this is breaking news.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the final regular season cap is the top 51 players on the team, right? Hoiw does dead cap figure into this, when a player is gone?

Never mind, that's pre-season.

I respectfully made a gentleman's agreement with you and I'm mature enough to stay within those boundaries. You though, not so much.

All this cap talk, Steve, is more boring than that time I went clam digging in the Bay of Fundy. Luckily, free agency starts next week, so I will be much less bored.

You pulled those quotes from somewhere else.

I want to focus on my last post. Are the Browns going to be able to sign players in FA this year or is their poor handling of the salary cap going to prohibit them from doing so?

There is animosity in that question.

This is interesting. Be sure to check out the link that says: "Head to the public salary cap dashboard for more: http://bit.ly"

I posted this yesterday and no one commented. That's interesting. Here is more information on what it means.



Browns second in cash, not cap, spending in 2022

Owner Jimmy Haslam is always willing to doll out the cash

By JaredMueller@JaredKMueller Mar 12, 2023, 10:59am EDT 0 Comments / 0 New

For all the failures of Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, the man is willing to spend money at a high level. While fans and the media focus on the salary cap, players and agents care far more about how much cash is being spent by teams.

Cash is also very helpful for GM Andrew Berry. That Haslam is willing to pay out big bonuses right away, gives Berry a lot of flexibility within the salary cap.

With the 2023 NFL free agency about to open, the NFLPA is opening up the vault of information over the last few weeks. First, it was the players’ survey that brought a lot of attention to a variety of teams. Then, we covered this morning that the NFLPA called out the Cincinnati Bengals publicly.

We also got information from the Players’ Association about cash spending and their salary cap data from last year. Partially, but nowhere near totally, due to the Deshaun Watson contract, the Browns were second in cash spending last season:



Cleveland is almost double the lowest cash spender, the Dallas Cowboys.

Interestingly, when you look at the salary cap from last year, the Browns were the only team to spend less than $200 million in salary cap in 2022.

Cash is king in the NFL and Haslam, as proven by his agreement to purchase a stake in the Milwaukee Bucks, has the cash and is willing to spend. Juxtapose that with the Bengals trying to cut players’ workers’ compensation rights and, perhaps, Cleveland has a leg up on their in-state rival in one way.


https://www.dawgsbynature.com/2023/...ns-salary-cap-cash-spending-jimmy-haslam

People probably didn't comment because it's actually not that relevant to the salary cap situation moving forward.

Explain how it's not relevant. I'm guessing you did not check out the link that showed each teams cap room? Or maybe, you want to continue deceiving people?

Here is the direct link for any trustworthy posters who want to view the information: https://nflpa.com/reports/public-salary-cap-report

I'm not deceiving anyone. We sit here and watch posts of team after team making player cuts to get under the salary cap. So far the Browns keep kicking that can down the road. It catches up. There's nothing deceitful about that. But you just keep doing you.

Once again, how is that information not relevant?

Btw------I am not the one who provided the information. The NFLPA released that report. The article from Dawgs by Nature confirmed that it was very helpful to Berry as he manages the cap.

Maybe you should try to comprehend this a little better.... "the salary cap situation moving forward".

LOL.......Please explain how having more cap room not helping the salary cap situation moving forward? Do you really not get the "cash" angle of this and how it provides us flexibility?

I get that it addresses nothing that pertains to what the browns salary cap will look like in the future and how pushing all of this guaranteed money down the road will impact them negatively. But that's how selective information works. When you selectively give part of the information while leaving out much more of the information you can paint any picture you like. However that is beginning to be a much more poplular theme these days.

Once again, the phrase that ends with "........................and remove all doubt" aptly applies to you.

But here is one angle that may allow the Browns to help avoid some of that guaranteed money which would handicap future salary cap issues.....

That's from June.

And still applies as far as I know.

J/C

Spending all that cash helped last season's cap room. Last year's numbers don't do a whole lot to show us how that spent cash shows up on this year's cap room.

If Haslam is again willing to spend a lot of cash up front, it can help us to fit in bigger contracts this season. It can also help sway players as they'd start making interest on more money sooner and they could also invest that money outside of financial instruments.

Right. But having an owner willing to spend cash in big bonuses doesn't give Berry a lot of flexibility w/the salary cap. LOL......smh

Finally a note of sanity.

Right. Haslam's willingness to spend cash does indeed help Berry w/the salary cap. It's pretty obvious that the guy really does "prioritize winning."

It doesn't guarantee we win, but it's nice having an owner who is willing to do all he can financially to help the team win.

j/c:

Now restructure Garrett!

And they will restructure again next year.

It was expected that Watson would be restructured by everyone. The clearing of 36M in cap space isn't really totally correct because the Browns were 14M in the hole. We don't have all the specifics yet, but the cap space created to sign FA's should be about 19M - not the 36M listed give or take.

I think the vast majority of people here understand that.

Going in for some simple surgery tomorrow...Unfortunately my heart is so weak that we had to cancel the procedure to be done in an out patient environment. But due to heart they had to reschedule the procedure at a hospital. The big fear is that I might not wake up from the anesthesia the surgery itself is not a difficult procedure - mostly laser. My point is I come to this board for some pleasure in reading FOOTBALL primarily about my Browns. Only to read like 6 posts about My penis being bigger than yours. I'm tired of that - show some discipline and swallow the hatred you have for each other and post football. Outside all the immature bantering there actually is some good points that was discussed.

I miss football posts. Btw in the process I have done about our Watson trade being one of the worst for the franchise. Plenty of QBs available if our Mayfield busted out. but not discussed is that we had the best cap situations and spending ability TOP 5 - we could have made a shot at Ramsey for our Defense. So far that would be Jordan Davis and a talent like Ramsey for our Defense and a lot more after FA begins.
We will see if Watson becomes a leader who is relaxed into a system making reads Brisset was able to a great job in his reads - doesn't come close to the talent that Watson has. But I have yet seen the ability to execute our system - I know he has the TALENT but does he have that QB ability mentally. My big problems still remains with character. No remorse, no apology to the women who were VICTIMS. I don't have daughters but I have 2 Daughter in laws who hate my favorite team because of Watson. I saw a QB who would take off scrambling way too soon I do not know if that is rust or just the product we have at the helm. I want a QB who can move around in the pocket and on occasion put the ball down and take off. Not every play. Apologies for wandering off from the thread but it is centered on our Salary Cap as being a variable in the review of our trade. We went from big pockets to Cap Hell.

Take care if you do not hear from me later this week that means I didn't wake up. I'm not afraid but it seems all the doctors are. Insurance loves it cause I keep surviving now I might not and they will save $$$. Later guys and gals....love you and may God bless you all!

May god extend a helping hand in your recovery and good luck in your
Recovery at that. You will make it!!!

Many of us knew all this talk about salary cap hell was manufactured. There are a plethora of ways to manage the cap. Berry will be up to the task.

I fully expect to hear from you soon after surgery.

We need you this year. So get it done and get back soon.

Prayers and well wishes Eotab.

tab, nothing but positive thoughts for you, brother. Looking forward to seeing new posts from you for a long, long time.

tab, stay positive buddy. It's not your time yet and I fully expect to see you back here spreading your much needed knowledge. Prays are headed your way and I hope you're around long enough to finally see a consistent winner. I'll spend my next couple of days praying for your speedy recovery.

j/c:

It wasn't manufactured unless you couldn't see how much his cap hit will be in upcoming years. You hate the term kicking the can down the road but in those future cap numbers it shows that is exactly what the Browns did. That's what was predicted they would do and it's exactly what they did do. Trying to claim otherwise is what is being manufactured here.

I'll be praying for you tab.

I'm praying for you tabber.

Best of luck to you EO. I'll be praying for you. Your story brings back bad memories with my wife. Her heart got so weak they couldn't put her under for a procedure to remove some toomers. Very difficult to deal with.

All the very best Tab - we all look forward to hearing from you very soon.

So I read a post like this and I think to myself that the opinion being presented is that the Salary Cap is not a big factor, in fact it's hardly a factor at all and can easily be manipulated in lots of ways. Is there another way to read that post?

Meanwhile my question is - did that $36 Million disappear? Or does it need to be accounted for somewhere/somewhen? And if the NFL salary Cap seems to grow at (about) 7% - 8% a year, haven't we just moved a bubble larger than the normal annual increase from this year to a future year(s).

Ask Pit.

Sorry. Wrong thread.

All bills must eventually get paid. Teams that feel they have a window extend players and push the payment date down the road. Once window has closed then teams will then pay the piper and take the salary cap hit. Bottom line is if you don't want to take the hit now extend and pay later. If you feel the team is not going to win now pay and take the hit, then. The other hope is when you extend and pay later the hope is that the salary cap gets bumped up and the hit is smaller than in the future. Bottom line is just like a credit card the bill eventually comes due it is just teams' kind of decide when that happens. That is why cap hell is kind of a farce because teams can manipulate and control when they get hit and when they want to take the hit.

I think most of us understand how teams manipulate the cap. It's just a few Baker Mayfield fans that are trying to make this a bigger deal than it is.

Good Luck EO. Hope to see you soon. Will keep you in my thoughts.

Yeah, all of these NFL teams being forced to make cuts in order to get under and create cap space are all Baker fans. Sometimes I don't even think you hear yourself. And if you do, I don't think you believe yourself.

You got this, Eo. We are all with you bro'....

Yeah, it's all on me. You still can't keep bakers name out of your mouth and then claim it wasn't you who started it. People can see.

My love and prayers are with you.

j/c:

Thank you to the board moderators for not having the testicular fortitude to remove someone who destroys countless threads day after day after day.

Well done.

This public service announcement was brought to you by Taco Bell.

Compliments of the little chihuahua that can't stop barking at the air and peeing on the carpet.

Stop talking about Vers that way.

Absolutely everything Andrew Berry is doing in the FA market and the draft is hanging on DSW becoming an elite QB on par with Burrow and that KCC guy. If that’s not the case and our 230 million QB has another underwhelming season in front of him then it’s probably hasta la vista for Berry and Stefanski.

The stakes are high.

This could be said with ANY quarterback. You can sign all the guys in the world who are perceived to be good at their position, but if your QB isn't good, your team isn't going to be good.

As Memphis said - this is true of any team. You try to put the best team you can together. The moves so far this off season have been solid. How Watson performs is a different topic to me.

"has another underwhelming season in front of him"

When was that?

Unless you are referring to the six games of last year. Although that is far from a season.

The last true season was pretty good.

It's an accrued season.

Yes it was and it was counted as 20% of the time he has on his contract.

I rather kept all these draft picks and 230m. Imagine what we could have done with so much wealth in the FA market and in the 2023 draft pick.

What was Watsons stats in 2022?
Top 20 QB? Worse?

Nutz!

I agree FL Dawg. I'm going to put my 2 cents in. It's been one year since we traded for DW. Knowing what I know now if I had to make the trade all over again I would. DW gives us the best chance to compete and win in the AFC. A 100% healthy Baker is at least 2 steps below the best AFC QB's. Heck, he'd only be 3rd best in our division. As fans, the 230 million really shouldn't be an issue with us. That's the responsibility of Jimmy Haslam and our FO. They made that decision. The way I look at the 3 #1 picks is like this. The one we gave up in "22 was for DW. That's a push to me. The other 2 I look at it this way. They're a crap shoot for any team but even more so for us. Since we've come back in 1999 I can only think of 3-4 #1's that were any good for us JT, Myles and Alex Mack and that's about it. I don't know if DW will ever be as good as he was a couple years ago, although I'm betting he will, but I still think it was worth the gamble. We weren't going anywhere with what we had at QB and this team's window is the next couple of years. JMO

Nobody argue that we should have kept Baker but Watson hasn’t so far shown that he’s the answer either.

Only a SB win can justify 230m guaranteed and judging from what we have seen so far from Berry/Stefanski/Watson this scenario seems highly unlikely. With 3 first round picks and 230m we could easily bought us one of the best defensive lines in the NFL. Only a few QBs has the ability to win a SB with an average defense and only one elite WR/TE and Watson paired with Stefanski has neither the results or anything else to show that they belong in that category.

If I’m wrong prove to me with up to date stats or whatever that my assumptions is “nutz”. The money and the draft picks could have been used more wisely from my perspective.

I agree.

In fact, I don't think we should be looking at DW leaving in four years as well.

He will be 32. If he plays well and the Browns do well. Why would we not extend him?

I am not going to play crystal ball. Hell, I may not even be around then. But, I see no reason why he will not be the player he has been.

The six game snapshot is being viewed through distorted glasses. We won three of the games. One game was played under unusual conditions.

I think what needed to be seen was seen in flashes. Those trying portray those games as an indicator of his future play are reaching IMO.

I am not going to argue the point. It makes no difference now.

2023 is here. We will have a different team. We have made coaching changes. The offense will be different. DW will be the starter and will get the reps.

Obviously, he has to play at a high level. We will be good if he is good.

I don’t think the final six games of a problematic 2022 season defines DW.

Nutz is thinking you can get anywhere without a franchise QB.

I agree that it doesn't define him but it brought about far more questions than it did answers.

Extending a players contract takes both parties to agree. Now that may work out to be the case. But it just as well may not be the case. If everything goes great here and watson gets what he wants, there should be no problem accomplishing that. However we all saw how that worked out in Houston. Even after he signed an extension he refused to honor his contract. Extending his contract certainly isn't a given and we have the perfect example of that to look at.

230m guaranteed is Mahomes and Burrow level of salary. The absolute best of the best. You simply don’t gamble with so much money.


The other inexcusable decision was to give the largest contract in the history of the NFL to a player with so much negative baggage, not to mention all his controversies with his former employer. There’s no evidence whatsoever that Watson has what it takes to be a franchise QB, in fact the opposite. He has talent but so far he hasn’t accomplished anything to write home about. Mahomes has won two SB and Burrow has reached one SB final and one Conference final. Do you spot the difference?

This was a panic move from one of the worst owner in the NFL and a inexperienced GM who simply didn’t took his time to make a proper consequence analysis. You can quote me whenever you want but I think we don’t even reach a Conference final with this setup. The 230m and the three 1 round picks could have been used more wisely from my perspective.

With that said I wish Watson the absolute best as long as he’s part of the Browns organization.

Interesting article.

https://www.foxsports.com/stories/n...nfls-best-quarterback-in-2020-pff-argues

...and none of it matters to the Browns in 2022 when the Browns finished 'last' the AFC North...

What were your expectations in 2022?

It's a shame the Browns were not able to sign any players this FA period because they are in cap hell. Would have been nice to upgrade the defense.

Not allowed on computer...all went well, some difficulties but all is good see you next week. Berry is making the trade better with his transactions...he is a good GM

Good deal tabber.

Rest up and get ready. We are a better team. Things are looking up.

2022 Browns should have been able to make the playoffs as a wild card team.

tab - of all the good news we've had this week, this is the best by far. So good to see this post from you. Rest, and get your strength back. We'll be here.

So knowing that Jacoby was going to play 11 games before the season and DW under suspension would return for the final six games; you thought we should make the playoffs?

Well I guess we were a disappointment.

Maybe this year we will do better.

DSW stats in his last two seasons in the NFL.

2020 - 4W and 12L (Houston)
2022 - 3W and 3L (Cleveland)

His latest 7W was against Washington, Baltimore, Houston, Detroit, New England and Jacksonville x2.

In 2020 and 2022 he had 40TD/12INT in 22 games. An average of 1.81 TD/game - 0,55 INT/game.

In 2022/23 the Browns scored 98 points in 6 games with DSW as an QB. An average of 16,33 points/game.
In 2022/23 (regular season) KCC scored 496 points in 17 games. And average of 29,17 points/game.

KCC in 2022/23 scores in average almost 13 points more/game than the Browns with DSW.

Ask yourself with all this in mind.
Is Kevin Stefanski a better HC and a play caller than Andy Reid?
Is DSW a better QB than PM?
Has the Browns any offensive player on the same level as Travis Kelce?
Is our D good enough to cover up for our O weaknesses?


Maybe we should lower our expectations and realize that Watson has a long long way to go before we’re anywhere near the better teams in the NFL.
When he and his offense starts to regularly produce 25+ points/game in average then we can start to dream about a SB.

My conclusion is that with a restricted salary cap it will be extremely difficult to catch up when we give our “franchise QB” such a gigantic contract. Deshaun Watson will give us hopes but the reality is that the price to trade him was probably to high. That mistake is on those in charge. Bad decision making is the mother of most failures.

Not supposed to be on the puter, huh..?

EO, you sure don't listen very well... !...... do ya..? :

You keep fighting, EO...and tell those Doctors we expect nothing less than their best.., because EO is the best damn DawgTalker to ever post on this message board and it's time for the Browns franchise to meet expectation..!!

I am sorry but you are pulling numbers that really are irrelevant.

They in no way represent the player.

In 2020 his last full season his PFF grade was 92.5.

Showing wins and loses with the Browns and Texans does not measure how effective the quarterback is.

It shows the records of the teams.

Then you measure DW with the Browns versus the Mahomes and Chiefs??

Really. He played six games after 11 were played in the season.

Mahomes was drafted by the Chiefs. He sat a year. He has been schooled in no other offense. He was developed by a HOF head coach. He played for a team that has won two Super Bowls. And you are comparing him to DW with the Browns??

My conclusion is write about DW after this season.

They're only relevant depending on who is playing the position.

They are relevant when you measure their actual performance.

Wait a second my friend.

If I’m not mistaken we paid Watson a signing bonus of nearly $50m in 2022. He played 6 games. His high salary was part of the reason that last season was a failure. We can’t just write off 20% of the financial investment and pretend this is good business .


DSW has 3+ seasons as a pro and he got paid as the best QB in the league, then the expectation is that we get results a par with what we pay. Anything less is a failure.

I politely disagree.

You can not evaluate properly without the surrounding context.

If you wish to view the financial aspect 2022 the money was moved.
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/deshaun-watson-21753/

But really that is not the point at all.

The reason the Browns and the other teams were willing to make the trade was because of his perceived value which was based upon his performance.

If the Browns were wrong to take the chance so were the others who were willing to do so. Teams don't make those decisions in a vacuum.

They measure the player and his potential. Without DW this season's chances of winning would be slim.

If your expectations were lofty for last year. Then they probably should have been adjusted to actual circumstances. You can not view 2022 like it was business as usual because it was not. I should not need to explain why.

This year is a different story. Everyone is aware of what is at stake. And the heavy load is on DW.

Pre season you would be 100% correct. Once Brissett was running a top 10 offense, not so much. You see, if you look at it from the perspective of "what you expected before the season" that's one thing. If you look at it from the perspective of what the Browns O was actually producing in 2022 that's totally different. It seems some people are trying to say that if the Browns went into the 2023 season with a top 10 offense that wouldn't have been good enough.

I totally agree! That was btw my initial argument when we started our dialogue

j/c:

Jack Duffin is the best at breaking down these contracts and the best at predictions on the contract details before they have been made public.

I think so, too.

Had post op appt yesterday. They said it went great and they took off all restrictions and am able to go on computer, text etc. For two years my vision was off now its crystal clear 20-22 and will get better. Now to get stronger and walk again...play golf and got to figure how to make my heart stronger so I can breath without Oxygen machine.

So we got that DT and Safety needed. Along with a decent DE edge rusher. So glad we are looking to get awesome on the D. Losing those 3 first round picks it was going to hurt the building of our defense.Now Berry is fixing that void. Of course we are gambling that the next cap in 2024 will be up to 300 million.

You are on the way back. Lots to look forward too.

We added three solid pieces. Along with the changes in staff. We are a better team.

I think we will add a receiver. And I am hoping we resign Walker.

I hope to go into the draft with an open mind and get the best players we can find. I don't care where they play.

Once this roster is set. I think we will have a good team.

Obviously, the burden is on DW. The Browns took a calculated risk that IMO needed to be made.

From a pure skill assessment I am a believer in DW. He has the ability to do anything you could ask of a quarterback.

I am really excited to see how the 2023 offense will look. I have some ideas but I want to see who may still be added to the offense.

The defense I know will be better under Schwartz. I will not have to yell at the TV to plug gaps against the rush.

Get well and get back on the course.

j/c,

We had three players that qualified for the 2023: Proven Performance Escalator.

--Jordan Elliott ~2.9M cap hit
--Harrison Bryant ~2.9M cap hit
--DPJ ~2.8M cap hit

DPJ, baring any unforseen happen stance will make the roster.

But this effectively puts Elliott and Bryant on the bubble to make the final 53.

A rookie draft pick in either room should be enough to push each one off of the final 53 man roster.

DPJ earned his escalator. Glad for him. The other two-----not so much.

Click on the tweet for a comprehensive review of our salary cap situation including the individual players and positional groups.

"Still waiting on final contract structures for Dobbs, Adams, Ford & Walker."