Can someone explain this to me RE Cleveland

[Shrubbs]

Can someone smarter than me with the cap explain how the Browns who opened the off-season far over the cap and have a seemingly immovable cap hit with Watson are able to do things like sign Za'Darius Smith back and take on Jerry Jeudy's cap hit? I just don't understand how this works. When do they have to be under the cap by? Can they realistically continue to push things into the future?

[WNCRavensFan]

I talked about this before - the Browns cap situation in 2024 isn't bad, but by 2026 it is a nightmare. That's when the insane void money kicks in.

They are sitting at $5 mil under the cap before these signings become official (and after taking on Jeudy's contract). They won't be able to do much, but they can operate.

[stevez51]

All teams by Wednesday. What they do is get deals but not signed until they have cap space.

[jonboy79]

Can someone smarter than me with the cap explain how the Browns who opened the off-season far over the cap and have a seemingly immovable cap hit with Watson are able to do things like sign Za'Darius Smith back and take on Jerry Jeudy's cap hit? I just don't understand how this works. When do they have to be under the cap by? Can they realistically continue to push things into the future?

They could create $51m from Watson and Cooper alone, plus another $11m by cutting Chubb…


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[Shrubbs]

I talked about this before - the Browns cap situation in 2024 isn't bad, but by 2026 it is a nightmare. That's when the insane void money kicks in.

They are sitting at $5 mil under the cap before these signings become official (and after taking on Jeudy's contract). They won't be able to do much, but they can operate.

They must have significantly more space than I realized. My buddy and I were talking and he said they were well OTC, and I figured that was probably true with Watson's $65M hit. Sounds like it's not as bad as I thought.

[Shrubbs]

They could create $51m from Watson and Cooper alone, plus another $11m by cutting Chubb…


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Right I get they could but they haven't done those things and Watson's hit is already $65M is it really possible to continue to restructure that deal? Seriously asking.

[jonboy79]

Right I get they could but they haven't done those things and Watson's hit is already $65M is it really possible to continue to restructure that deal? Seriously asking.

Of course, it leaves a hell of a corpse at the end, but….
Why pay today what you can pay for tomorrow.

That said, I wouldn’t… just like I don’t want to restructure Stanley, Humphrey, Andrews or Marcus Williams because I want their eventual departure as pain free as possible


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[JimZipCode]

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/cleveland-browns

Before the new deal, Za'Darius counts for $3M against the Brownies cap due to the void year. Ian Rapp says the new deal has $12M base in Year One, so that's "only" +9M for their 2024 cap.

OverTheCap says they have about $5M in cap space, so they can't afford this deal. But they have until the start of the league year, 4p on Wednesday, to be cap compliant.

I guess they have some restructures they can do by Wednesday?

[WNCRavensFan]

They must have significantly more space than I realized. My buddy and I were talking and he said they were well OTC, and I figured that was probably true with Watson's $65M hit. Sounds like it's not as bad as I thought.

They did a ton of restructuring / adding void years last season, which ended up giving them about $30 mil in cap space at the end of the season, and I presume that rolled over to this year. Weird way to do it but there you go.

They are going to start leaking good young players like the Saints have. They currently have 14 players on the team, and 9 players on void years, taking up $247.7 million in cap liabilities for 2026.

[JimZipCode]

I talked about this before - the Browns cap situation in 2024 isn't bad, but by 2026 it is a nightmare. That's when the insane void money kicks in.

Yeesh!

In 2026 they have cap commitments to only 23 players – including a pro-rated signing bonus to Za'Darius from his old deal – and those 23 account for $247M against the cap. For 2026 they have only $36M in cap space, and less than half a roster under contract.

Yowza. They better win something soon.


EDIT

They currently have 14 players on the team, and 9 players on void years, taking up $247.7 million in cap liabilities for 2026.

Yeah, what WNC said!

[WNCRavensFan]

By contrast, the Ravens have 12 players on the team accounting for $204 mil in cap liabilities. That includes $74.65 million to Lamar Jackson.

Difference is, besides the extra $43 million in room, those contracts have a lot more flexibility.

The Ravens leak good young players too, all the time - but it's a different kind of flow.

[Ravens4Real]

Let them continue to mortgage their future while not winning anything today.

They will be right back to an awful team before we know it.