Browns: 5 most underpaid players for the upcoming 2021 season

The Browns are in a unique position. They’ve still got a bulk of their best players under good deals heading into the 2021 season and don’t have to pay Baker Mayfield big money for a bit longer. That means the Browns have flexibility with their cap space. Which is a good thing as one of the biggest killers of a franchise’s competitive window is a team that can’t manage their cap.

Part of the problem is the inflated value of quarterbacks in the NFL. It’s hard to keep a contender going when you’re paying one guy $40 million per year. That’s just one of the many pitfalls a team can face when managing the cap.

That’s why players who are deemed affordable, cheap, or “underpaid” are so important. If you have a player who exceeds his contractual expectations, then you can really put together one heck of a team. The problem is finding replacements for guys who price themselves out of that coveted price point.

Not every player is going to be worth a major contract but some will.

That’s why today we’re looking at guys who aren’t getting paid a lot but are putting up great production regardless of what their contracts are worth. These guys are getting paid way less than what they deserve and that fact is allowing the Browns to build a viable contender for 2021 and beyond.

This isn’t a list of guys who deserve huge contracts, to be clear. Simply a list of guys who, at their current contractual figure, are exceeding their expectations. It’s not simply about who’s making the least amount of money.