Cleveland Browns: 5 restructure candidates this offseason

5 Cleveland Browns who could have their deals re-done

The Cleveland Browns are entering into a very interesting offseason. With the way that quarterback Baker Mayfield finished the 2020 campaign, the Browns have the potential to be legitimate Super Bowl contenders in 2021, but they have to keep the long-term goal in mind; be a sustainable contender. That means paying close attention to the salary cap situation, which has become more difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic ramifications.

The 2021 salary cap is expected to be set at $180 million, which is more than an $18 million decrease from 2020. This is significant because Cleveland already has over $197 million in liabilities for this coming season, which means they are nearly $20 million over the cap.

This number of course does not include any potential new free agent signings, nor does it include the expiring contracts of Olivier Vernon, Kevin Johnson, Terrance Mitchell, Karl Joseph, B.J. Goodson, Kendall Lamm, Andrew Sendejo, Malcolm Smith, Larry Ogunjobi, Cody Parkey, Rashard Higgins, KhaDarel Hodge, Vincent Taylor, Michael Dunn, Tavierre Thomas, Stephen Carlson, or Porter Gustin, all of whom either started or played a role for the Browns in 2020.

It’s easy to see that money has gotten and will continue to get tight. Cleveland must figure out how to create some cap space so that they can continue to roll it over and retain the ability to extend players like Mayfield and Denzel Ward. Restructuring is one way to do that. Here are five players who could get revamped deals this offseason.

5. OL Chris Hubbard

Chris Hubbard originally signed a five-year $36.5 million contract with the Browns in 2018. He was solid in his first season with the team, but struggled mightily in 2019. The Browns re-did his contract last offseason as he moved back into a depth role. Hubbard logged snaps at left tackle, right guard, and right tackle, and proved himself as perhaps the NFL’s best backup lineman.

Hubbard will turn 30 years old in April and has a cap hit of just under $5 million this season with no guaranteed money. With the dearth of OL talent in the NFL, perhaps Hubbard would be viewed as a starter by other teams in 2022 and could find more money elsewhere. But he is very valuable to this team as the primary backup for four of the five OL spots. If the Browns could reduce his cap hit slightly this season in return for adding 2-3 years of guaranteed money, they should absolutely do that.

Hubbard’s knee injury suffered in Week 15 could complicate negotiations, but assuming he can return to near full-strength, he’s the type of player that his team could certainly use moving forward.