6 Browns’ players who will likely be cap casualties in 2023
By Chad Porto
The Cleveland Browns are going to be in salary cap hell next year as things stand.
The Cleveland Browns and its fans may be happy with all of these extensions but there’s a price to spending all that money. This isn’t baseball, and no matter what some of the less informed want to believe, the salary cap is in fact real. You can renegotiate deals all day until you’re blue in the face, but once a contract is signed, a player has to agree to whatever new deal you offer.
That’s not a guarantee, and as it stands, the Browns are looking like they’re going to be $7 million over the cap next year. That’s factoring in all the extensions and the expiring contracts. It’s not factoring guys they’ll want to re-sign or free agents they may pursue.
It’s also not factoring in that two key players, Nick Chubb and Myles Garrett, are heading into opt-out years. Usually, teams like to get new deals done around that time, and who’s to say that either player will want to re-work their contract. This is a business, after all, as so many want to keep saying.
Why would Chubb agree to differ money if the deal is beneficial to him? The Browns have already cut guys like Jarvis Landry and JC Tretter because they (presumably) didn’t want to restructure their deals.
With guys like Jedrick Wills, Greedy Williams, Harrison Bryant, and Donovan Peoples-Jones having expiring contracts within the next few seasons, the Browns are going to have to find the money somewhere. They only have so much, and not everyone is going to be ok getting that money deferred or in one lump sum, which will only cost more in taxes.
So to clear space, guys with big contracts will be cut or won’t be re-signed and we narrowed down the six most likely candidates to be gone after this year.