Cleveland Browns offseason blueprint: How many roster spots are up for grabs?
By Sam Penix
Cap casualties
Jarvis Landry
Jarvis Landry is set to make $14.7 million this season and is worth nothing close to that amount. His lack of speed and inability to separate against man coverage make him a poor fit in the Kevin Stefanski offense and with Baker Mayfield.
He will likely be approached about a restructure, but for a player who would be on the field for about 40 percent of snaps based on Cleveland’s personnel usage last season, he’d have to take an awfully large pay cut to be worth keeping. Moving on would save the Browns nearly $12 million this season, which is a significant amount.
This is what the Browns WR room should look like to mesh with Mayfield’s skillset (which is vertical passing)
WR1 – Odell Beckham Jr.
WR2 – Vertical threat
WR3 – Slot/Possession
WR4 – Donovan Peoples-Jones
WR5 – Gadget
WR6 – Young and cheap special teamer with potential
KhaDarel Hodge will likely fill the final spot. There are plenty of gadget types in this year’s draft class, including TuTu Atwell, Kadarius Toney, Rondale Moore, Jaelon Darden, Elijah Moore, and others. The majority of those guys could also play the slot and provide a vertical threat.
The key is finding players who can get vertical but also provide more than that. At WR3, Rashard Higgins would do more for this team than Landry, at a cheaper cost.
Sheldon Richardson
Like Landry, Richardson is being paid like a premier player at his position group for only around average play. Richardson’s $13.1 million cap hit is very large, and while he will also likely be negotiated with, cutting him would save $11.5 million. If the Browns want to make any significant free agency moves (such as J.J. Watt), one or both of Landry and Richardson must be gone.
Case Keenum
It seems ridiculous to pay Keenum $7.3 million this season to clap his hands and celebrate on the sideline. Cutting him would create over $5 million in dead cap, but it would also save a net $2.1 million. He’ll cost $1.3 to cut next offseason, so there’s an argument to be made that doing it now would be the smart move. If Mayfield is lost for any significant period of time, the season is probably over, whether Keenum or Kyle Lauletta is the one stepping in.