Cleveland Browns: Joe Schobert is the most underpaid linebacker in the NFL
Joe Schobert is the most underpaid linebacker in the NFL and until he is signed long-term, the Cleveland Browns will field potential trade offers.
Joe Schobert, star middle linebacker for the Cleveland Browns is the most underpaid linebacker in the NFL, and for that reason, it would make great sense to lock him up now with a significant pay raise and a contract extension. But if the Browns and Schobert’s agent cannot agree on his value, that might cause the team to look at alternatives.
This is not just another player. Schobert is a throwback to the old days when a dominant middle linebacker was the anchor of the defense. He’s unbelievably fast to the football, even though he didn’t light up the track at the Combines.
He’s a classic case of a guy who has “football speed” more than “track speed,” which is why he slid to the fourth round in 2016. But he made the Pro Bowl in 2017 and might have made it again last year were it not for a hamstring injury that caused him to miss some time.
The Browns are not building for the future. They are trying to “win now.” Trading him is not something that makes sense as a football move, as attested to by DPD’s Steve Gessic Jr.
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So why were the Browns apparently fielding offers at all?
An obvious reason is that they have not agreed on a contract extension, and given that the sport is professional football, there must be an agreement to keep Schobert on the team long term.
Schobert is way underpaid, on his rookie contract as a fourth-round pick. He was probably the greatest pick that Sashi Brown ever made (not counting Myles Garrett, but truthfully you or I could have picked Garrett). At the time, he was viewed as an outside linebacker for Ray Horton’s 3-4 defense, but he eventually grew up to be a sensational middle linebacker in Gregg Williams’ 4-3.
At the moment, according to Overthecap.com, he has the 31st highest cap charge for an inside linebacker in the NFL for 2019, prior to the draft. Schobert is getting $2.13 million this year, which is actually a hefty increase from his first three years. The NFL has three linebackers who will generate a cap charge over $10 million and twelve who will earn over $5 million.
Schobert is paid less than LB Christian Kirksey ($8.2 Million) as well as newcomer Adarius Taylor (average $2.5 Million over two years). That’s crazy.
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The options are to extend him, trade him to move up in the draft, or do nothing and hope that he lives up to his contract despite its unfairness.
The Browns do have the cap resources to extend Schobert’s contract this year if they choose, and if Schobert and his agent can agree on the terms. He flat-out deserves a pay raise and should be extended, but there could be a difference of opinion on how much he should get. What if the two sides just cannot agree?
The Browns have leverage on Schobert, who is on contract. Cleveland could take the position that they are not going to give in, but they expect Schobert to play at one-fourth of his true value.
Schobert is so gung-ho, that he might actually do that. However, at the end of the year, it will be very tough to patch things up and get him to forego free agency. In all likelihood, he will move on and the Browns will be awarded a third round compensatory pick in 2021. That doesn’t sound like very much for a Pro Bowl middle linebacker.
For that reason, the Browns have to look at potential trade opportunities until such time as he is signed to a longer-term deal. A 2019 draft pick is not going to be eligible for a contract extension until 2022, which is after Mayfield is presumably signed to a long term deal. The team probably does not want to make moves that would leave them short of cap space when it is time to retain Mayfield, Garret, Ward, and Chubb, all of whom will be in the same situation as Schobert in the next few years.
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In all likelihood, the Browns will find a way to retain Schobert long term. But until the ink is dry on a new contract, John Dorsey will field offers for the Browns star middle linebacker. Let’s hope that nothing comes of these rumors.