Cleveland Browns: 5 restructure candidates this offseason
By Sam Penix
1. DT Sheldon Richardson
Sheldon Richardson is set to be the 10th-highest-paid defensive tackle in football at $13.6 million. He is not worth that amount and can be cut for just $1.6 million in dead money. The problem is that replacements this offseason aren’t plentiful, and the Browns already likely to lose Larry Ogunjobi in free agency, so replacing two starting DTs in the same offseason isn’t ideal.
He’ll turn 31 this season Cleveland is on his fourth team. Perhaps he’d like to stick around for a few more seasons at a lower cap hit with some guaranteed cash.
Moving back to his natural position of 3-tech with Andrew Billings playing the 1-tech should be great for him and the Browns interior DL as a whole. Jordan Elliott should also be primed for a nice leap in year two.
The Browns have just over $17 million in cap space right now, and that number is just not enough to cover for the extensions in the future. That would increase to about $26 million with a $185 million cap, but that’s still not enough.
Next. 5 crucial moves Browns have to make this offseason. dark
Things are going to change, and while that will include moving on from players, it will also include constant renegotiations and restructures. These five players could be just the first of many over the next few seasons as the Browns attempt to lengthen their contention window.