Report; Browns Part Ways with $60 Million

The Cleveland Browns are poised to be contenders for several years, but they will face some difficult financial decisions in the coming offseasons.

On Monday, January 15, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell wrote a detailed analysis of what the Browns will face in the coming months, concluding with some certainty that the franchise will part ways with two-time All-Pro right tackle Jack Conklin. Barnwell also stated that the team will most likely ask running back Nick Chubb to accept a lower salary.

Barnwell wrote, “[Amari] Cooper, [Jedrick] Wills, cornerback Greg Newsome, and linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah are all free agents after next season.” “[The Browns] will lose significant draft capital as a result of the trade for [Deshaun] Watson, as well as multiple cost-controlled starters from their roster, forcing them to look for those players in free agency.

This offseason, they’ll most likely cut Conklin and ask running back Chubb to take a pay cut, but if nothing else changes, this could be the best version of the Browns we see for the next few years.

Conklin was an All-Pro in 2020, his first season in Cleveland after joining from the Tennessee Titans. However, he has suffered numerous injuries since.

The Browns’ starting tackle missed all but seven games in 2021 due to severe elbow and knee injuries. Conklin returned the following year, competing in 14 of the 17 contests. However, he suffered MCL and ACL tears in the first half of the team’s season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals in September, putting him out for the rest of the season.

Conklin signed a four-year, $60 million

Trading Conklin after June 1 is the best option for the Browns because it moves $5.5 million of dead money into the cap savings category while costing the team $7.5 million in dead money. The savings and dead money on Conklin’s contract over the next four years would be the same as if Cleveland released him this summer.

The problem with a trade, however, is that any team interested would have to accept a large contract for a player who has proven incapable of staying on the field over the last three years. Conklin will play in his ninth NFL season in 2024, at the age of thirty.

with the Browns in December 2022, which keeps him under contract through 2026. Cleveland can cut Conklin after June 1, which will cost the team $13 million in dead money and save the Browns nothing against the 2024 salary cap, per Over The Cap. However, the move would save Cleveland $15 million in both 2025 and 2026.