Cleveland Browns Monday cuts do not signal a major roster turnover

The Cleveland Browns and Andrew Berry made multiple cuts on Monday, but it does not signal a plan for a major roster turnover.

Andrew Berry made his first big moves as the Cleveland Browns general manager on Monday, cutting four players who were signed by John Dorsey. Three of the players had just completed their first season with the Browns.

The Browns released Demetrius Harris, Eric Kush, Adarius Taylor, and T.J. Carrie on Monday, giving Cleveland around $13 million in cap savings. All four players are free to sign elsewhere immediately and do not need to wait for the free agency period to start in March.

These moves made sense because all four players were overpaid for their roles on the roster. Carrie received the most playing time out of the group, but his performance did not match what he was due in salary. The same goes for the other three players.

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All four players underperforming based on their contracts was the main motive for Berry deciding to part ways. However, there is some belief that the moves were made because Berry was solely trying to move on from players acquired by Dorsey.

However, these were cuts that needed to be made in order for the Browns to preserve cap space. The Browns are going to need cap space over the next few seasons in order to sign players coming off their rookie contracts to extensions. Specifically, Myles Garrett and Baker Mayfield will break the bank for the Browns when they are eligible for extensions.

Although the four players released were all signed by Dorsey, it does not mean that Berry is planning on a massive roster turnover to get rid of “Dorsey guys.” Instead, he is going to shape the roster by trimming bloated contracts for players who are considered to be depth pieces.

Instead, Berry will likely rely on building depth by adding cheaper, young players. It was the same approach the Sashi Brown regime took, and it resulted in giving the Browns plenty of cap space. However, Berry is not going to turnover the top of the roster and move on from key players purely because they were added to the Browns roster by Dorsey.

Dorsey took the approach of turning over the roster by moving on from players acquired by the previous regime. This resulted in the Browns moving on from younger players and adding more expensive veterans, although they practically played the same role and similar impacts throughout the roster.

Berry is going to find ways to improve the Browns payroll to give them the flexibility to make aggressive and potentially significant moves throughout the offseason. It may result in more moves throughout the offseason, but do not expect Berry to completely overhaul the roster over the offseason.