The Cleveland Browns cannot afford to lose Alex Mack

The Cleveland Browns must keep Alex Mack in order to have any chance of success in 2016.

The Cleveland Browns are in a danger of losing a great deal of the team’s talent.

Travis Benjamin, Tashaun Gipson and Mitchell Schwartz were already free agents when yesterday began, but another player added his name to the list by opting out of his current contract.

Alex Mack became a free agent yesterday after opting out of his current deal, something which should be expected by a player of his caliber.

Free agency is designed to allow players to test out their values on the open market, and not get stuck with one team who may pay them less than what they are worth to the organization.

Mack is smart to test out his value, and he will quickly find out that it is very high.

The initial thinking is that Mack wants to come back to the Browns, and that he opted out in order to drive his value higher. This would force the Browns to pay him as the, or close to, the top center in the league. He is already at an elite level, so this seems like an easy decision.

The only problem is that tying up a lot of money with Mack would prevent the team from being able to give Schwartz a similar deal.

Right now, it looks like Mack may want to return more than Schwartz does, so he must be the top priority in terms of allocating money for contracts.

Losing a right tackle of Schwartz’s caliber would be tough to replace, but losing Mack may mean Cam Erving would be the team’s starting center next season, and that would not be good for anyone lining up behind him.

Quality centers are hard to come by, and the fact Mack even wants to remain in Cleveland after the team’s lack of success is amazing in itself.

The new coaching staff and front office may have shown him that the team is going in the right direction, and that great things are ahead if he remains in Cleveland.

His value became clear in 2014 when he broke his leg in Week 6 and missed the rest of the season. If he had been around, there is a great chance the team could have capitalized on the 7-4 start and made the playoffs, instead of collapsing and losing the final give games of the season.

Mack is essential to the team’s success in 2016, especially if they draft a quarterback, so he must be the main focus when free agency begins next week.