Post free agency roster moves for the Cleveland Browns
By Greg Newland
With John Dorsey out and Andrew Berry in, there will likely be heavy roster turnover. What does the future hold for a few major stars of the Cleveland Browns with the first wave of free agency over?
With any regime change, there is always roster turnover. When John Dorsey took over the Cleveland Browns, he cleared the house and stockpiled a tremendous number of talented players. Some of those players with troubled pasts and a few wide receivers that appear to be tremendously over-paid based on production.
Will an analytical front office value the same players as much as Dorsey? Likely not, as fans have already seen Berry let veterans like Joe Schobert, Christian Kirksey, and Damarious Randall walk away from the team. Historically, “analytical” teams have valued quarterbacks, offensive tackles, pass rushers and cornerbacks.
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It appears Berry may be following that strategy after focusing on the offensive line in free agency giving right tackle Jack Conklin to a $42 million, three-year deal. Additionally, Berry signed an expensive backup quarterback in Case Keenum to mentor Baker Mayfield.
Luckily the Browns have another year or two before they must start thinking about resigning Mayfield and Myles Garrett who will chew up a lot of cap space.
It felt like the Browns scored big with two top free agents in Conklin and tight end Austin Hooper. Cleveland made Hooper the highest-paid tight end in the NFL at $11 million per year. Remember, this title won’t last long with Travis Kelce and George Kittle due to get paid.
My point is, there are 17 NFL receivers making more than Hooper who will likely catch as many passes as a few of them and provide run blocking for the Browns. Berry spent big, but on a position that is underpaid and likely undervalued by many teams in the NFL. With the Kevin Stefanski system, there is no doubt the tight end position will be heavily utilized in Cleveland.
What will Berry do with some of the talent Dorsey acquired, which looks to be overpaid by someone focusing on the analytics?