Andrew Berry sends message to Cleveland Browns veterans: Let’s restructure
Cleveland Browns GM Andrew Berry sent a simple message to veteran players — you must play ball with us and restructure or play ball elsewhere.
By cutting a star Cleveland Browns defensive tackle and mainstay on the defensive line in Sheldon Richardson, Andrew Berry has sent a message not only to Richardson and his agent, Ben Dogra of Relativity Sports, but also to other Browns players in a similar salary situation.
Evidently, Berry is very, very serious about the need to restructure in order to fit salaries within the salary cap.
If Berry was willing to cut Sheldon Richardson, he’s very likely taking a similar position with other high-salaried players on the Browns roster, including Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham, Jr., Joel Bitonio, Chris Hubbard, and others.
Berry would like to bring down the 2021 payroll, which after Clowney’s signing was temporarily the highest in the NFL. After Richardson’s departure, the Browns payroll is still on the high side but topped by the Dallas Cowboys.
Make no mistake, Richardson was not cut due to a lack of ability. He was a legitimate star, with 64 tackles last season and 4.5 sacks for the team. The former Pro Bowler and 2013 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year has been absolutely as solid as a rock for the Browns the past two seasons, and there can be no complaint about the level of his play.
However, general manager Andrew Berry decided that the team would rather clear $11.5 million worth of cap space, and for that reason, the 6-foot-3, 293-pound Richardson, who will turn 31 this November, was given his release. In effect, Berry is saying that the Browns do not believe that the Ravens or Steelers are going to offer $11.5 million, either.
Welcome to today’s NFL, where desperation has led to new creative accounting techniques, pioneered by the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Bucs. They figured out that they can legally add extra voidable years to a contract they have no intention of exercising.
So, for example, your team signs a player for one year but spreads the bonus out over five years, so the salary cap charge is reduced for this season. Next year, the team would have to pay it back if they cut the player from the roster and void the remaining years, but this year’s plan is to worry about that next year.
Once it became clear that the NFL would allow this creative accounting to take place, the Browns decided that they too would use this technique to essentially borrow from future teams to sign players now. At some point, the rules might change, but for now, the Browns are among the teams that figure they might as well take advantage of it.
Salary cap trickery is more important this season than ever because the NFL Salary Cap Allowance has contracted this year to a level of $182.5 million due to the Covid-19 effect on NFL revenues. Prior to Covid, the 2021 salary had been expected to be about $210 million. That’s a shortfall of about 13%, and so suddenly everyone with non-guaranteed money looks suspiciously over-valued.
The opportunity to recover $11.5 million in 2021 cap savings from Richardson was too great to pass up. If Richardson and Dogra were not willing to cooperate with the new economic reality, at least as seen by Andrew Berry and the Browns, it was time to wave goodbye.
It is amazing that the Browns signed Jadeveon Clowney for less than half of the 2021 cap hit from Richardson’s contract. As good as Richardson is, no way is he worth twice as much as Clowney.
The Browns might even be willing to re-sign him back but at a much lower rate. One way or the other, Richardson is going to restructure, whether it is with the Browns or some other team.
Depending on how you calculate it, the Browns were getting very tight in salary cap. Compare the annual salary cap allowance, $182.5 million this year, plus the carryover dollars from the previous season.
The Browns have a larger carryover of about $28,617,691 as estimated by overthecap.com. The maximum they are allowed to spend is $211,117,691, but they should not spend anywhere near the maximum unless they believe they are making a Super Bowl run.
Conversely, teams in a rebuilding phase should seek to underspend the annual salary cap allowance; i.e., not more than $182,500,000. General managers who do not get this right become commentators for ESPN or FoxSports.
Cleveland Browns 2021 Total Salary Cap
2021 Cap Allowance $182,500,000
Carryover from 2020 $28,617,691
Total salary cap (spend limit) $211,117,691
Now, the important question is, what does the budget look like in the post-Richardson era? Don’t believe the lazy sportswriters’ estimates of total cap space that do not even include the budget for signing draft choices.
I mean, come on, the team is going to sign draft choices and even sportswriters have got to understand that the drafted players do not work for free. This writer’s estimates are below.
The reason for quoting the “top 51” is because, by rule in the off-season, NFL teams are required to fit only their top 51 salaries under the cap during the offseason and can make cuts later to get things in shape for the regular season. To this add “dead money” paid to players no longer on the team.
You have to add about $9 million if you plan to draft players in the NFL draft, but you will cut seven players at the NFL minimum to end up with a 53 player roster. Add $2 million for the Practice Squad, and another $3 million to sign players during the season if someone gets hurt. For now, let’s say we are done signing free agents.
This is your total budget:
2021 Estimated Cleveland Browns Budget
Top 51 $187,500,459
Dead Money $2,681,770
Draft picks (add 9, cut 7) $4,380,000
Practice Squad $2,000,000
In-season replacements $3,000,000
Additional Free Agents $0,000,000
Total without restructuring $199,562,229
Cap space (2022 carryover) $11,555,462
The following additional observations can be made. First, if Sheldon Richardson had not been cut, the Browns would be completely spent out by the end of the season. The additional $11.5 million cap charge would have reduced the Browns 2021 cap space to approximately zero. Poof. As it is, there is some breathing room.
Restructuring the contracts of Jarvis Landry, Joel Bitonio, J.C. Tretter and others could create an additional $15 million or more of 2021 cap space, if desired, or additional free agents could be signed with the money.
Odell Beckham, Jr. could also appear on this list, but OBJ has more leverage because more of his money is guaranteed. The table below shows the 2021 cap number, plus the amount that the Browns can recover, and the percentage that is recoverable.
Player Cap Recoverable
Number by cut pct
Odell Beckham Jr. $15,750,000 $2,960,000 19%
Jarvis Landry $14,753,125 $11,711,765 79%
J.C. Tretter $11,075,000 $7,810,294 71%
Joel Bitonio $9,970,588 $9,970,588 100%
Chris Hubbard $4,961,765 $3,661,765 74%
Total $56,510,478 $36,114,412 64%
As a general estimate, the player’s 2021 cap number could be reduced by about half by restructuring. In total,the Browns could probably find a way to cut their 2021 cap number by about $15 million or even more if they put their minds to it.
Prior to this off-season, “restructuring” meant actually extending the player’s contract. Now, however, it can mean there are cap charges assigned to future “voidable years” that come due when the player is finally cut. There may be no intention of employing the player in these voidable years in some cases. It truly is “play now, pay later.”
Another way to look at it is that the NFL teams have found a legal way to borrow money from future years and spend it this year. Otherwise, the free-agent market would have been even more chaotic than it has been.
Jarvis Landry would seem to be equally vulnerable as Sheldon Richardson to restructuring, so we shall see what can be worked out with agent Damarious Bilbo and Klutch Sports.
The Browns do not need to pull out all stops to restructure everyone. One way or another they have to pay for everyone at some point. They can pay now or pay later. But they are definitely making a run at a Super Bowl this season, and if they feel they are a player away, they are going to do whatever is necessary to adjust the roster and go out and get that player.
As for this fan, the Browns have added way more talent than expected at the beginning of the off-season. There may very well be one or two additional major moves.
Very likely, Dawg Pound Daily will be reporting on the players on the list above. Either we will be discussing their restructured contracts, or alternatively, we will be talking about why they were cut or traded. If that happens, look for some quality free-agent replacement players to be signed.
Next. Why did Cleveland release Sheldon Richardson?. dark
Alternatively, the Browns may make some cuts depending on who they draft. If the Browns draft a speedy wide receiver at the top of the draft, for example, it might be accompanied by a move involving one of their veteran star receivers. Stay tuned. It will only get more interesting as the draft approaches.