With A Decent Draft, Cleveland Could Be Just Getting Started
Feb 28, 2023; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks to the press at the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
There is no doubt that emotions are still running high for Cleveland Browns fans. In a season where the team overcame so much adversity, they fell flat on their face in the playoffs. After a year of finding ingenious solutions to seemingly intractable problems, they finally had no answer.
The Houston Texans got hot at the right time, and the Browns resting some starters in the Week 18 game certainly had some side effects, especially for the defense.
But, on the positive side, when you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, it’s just the beginning for this new-look Browns franchise.
On one hand, the two pick-sixes throws by Joe Flacco may keep the “controversy” folks quiet in the back. Even though Deshaun Watson was always the starting quarterback for the Browns in 2024, even if Flacco won the Super Bowl, we now don’t have to deal with those noisy people.
I know Flacco threw for a bunch of yards and the Browns went on a tear that was as much fun as I’ve ever seen. But let’s not forget that Watson was playing well before his injury, and his last game was a tremendous comeback against a Baltimore Ravens squad favored to win the Super Bowl.
The folks who don’t want Watson back will be one issue. The other noise in the background will be people wondering how the Browns are going to continue to pay all these excellent players. Right now, the team is $12 to $17 million over the cap for 2024 (the final number still isn’t set), and that includes a few key players like Za’Darius Smith unsigned.
Here is what most fans don’t understand: As long as this team stays competitive, which by all indications they are, Jimmy Haslem is willing to spend the out-of-pocket money to manipulate the cap.
So, what exactly is manipulating the cap? Manipulation can be a dirty word, but in this case, it’s a perfectly legal method of restructuring contracts to include void years, signing bonuses, and various other techniques that put money in the player’s pocket, all while avoiding taking dollars away from the hard cap.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints have done this for years, better than anyone else. That’s how they managed to pay Tom Brady and Drew Brees while keeping a loaded roster around them.
The biggest false narrative that I commonly hear is that this cap-manipulation strategy ultimately caught up to the Bucs and the Saints. That is far from the truth. What actually happened was that their elite quarterbacks retired, and the owners finally decided they were done shelling out as much extra money just to win seven or eight games.
Neither one of those teams is awful now — the Bucs are a winnable game away from the NFC championship. But both teams did take steps backward after the retirement of their marquee quarterbacks, so the owner took time to reset.
What does that mean for the Cleveland Browns? For starters, the $64 million cap hit for Watson will basically be cut in half. Void years will be added to the deal, and a large roster bonus will be given to immediately get the Browns under the 2024 cap.
On top of that the Browns also have large deals with Amari Cooper, Denzel Ward, and Myles Garrett, who are all prime candidates for contract restructuring. Let’s also not forget the veteran guys on the roster who may be willing to take a pay cut to stay.
Last but not least, this is for the “but we have no draft picks from the Watson trade” crowd. Yes, Cleveland gave up three first-round picks, but that doesn’t have to keep them from drafting talent. Browns fans should know as well as anyone that first-round pedigree doesn’t guarantee NFL greatness.
Take the 2023 draft for a perfect example. We didn’t see a ton of production from Cedric Tillman or Siaki Ika, who were third-round selections, but Dawand Jones (fourth round) and Luke Wypler (sixth round) both played important snaps during the 2023 season.
Jones perhaps was one of the biggest surprises of the year and could help transform the offensive line moving forward. At this time, I’m not sure who he will replace in 2024, but there is no way he is not starting for this team next year.
The 2022 draft class was even more impressive for Andrew Berry, who selected Martin Emerson and Alex Wright in the third round and Jerome Ford in the fifth. Don’t get me wrong, Ward is one of the best corners in the NFL, but I’m not sure that Emerson is not far behind him.
I know Ford is no Nick Chubb, but he also did a nice job of filling in the season and kept the Browns’ running game at least average. Wright hasn’t gotten his time to shine just yet, but don’t be shocked if he has a much bigger role in 2024 as we have seen flashes of greatness during his limited snaps.
If Berry can continue to draft even above average and Haslem is willing to open up his wallet, the trade for Watson isn’t going to hamper anything. We haven’t seen a ton of quarterback deals done in the last year, but in the next 12 months, I would be willing to bet that the Watson contract doesn’t look that bad.
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