7 Cleveland Browns players who could be entering their final season with the team
The Cleveland Browns are legitimate Super Bowl contenders and should be for as long as Baker Mayfield plays well.
Good teams cannot keep all their players, however, and general manager Andrew Berry will have some tough decisions to make very soon.
Here are seven players whose days may be numbered. Some are more obvious than others, and some will hurt more than others, but thus is the life of a good NFL team.
7. QB Case Keenum
It was odd when Cleveland signed Keenum to a three-year $18 million contract last year, as he will count $7.3 million (10th on the team) for the team to pray he never sees the field. There are plenty of worse backups in the league, but if Mayfield misses any significant time, the Browns aren’t going anywhere with Keenum, so it really doesn’t make sense to pay him so much.
He will cost $1.3 million in dead cap if cut next offseason, but moving on would result in a net increase of $6.5 million in space, so it is a near certainty that Mayfield will be backed up by someone else in 2022.
6. S Ronnie Harrison Jr.
Acquired from the Jacksonville Jaguars for just a fifth-round pick, Harrison took a few weeks to get up to speed in the Cleveland defense, but once he did, he played like one of the league’s better safeties. He dealt with various injuries, but was an invaluable member of the defense.
His contract is up after this season, and assuming full health, is likely to be the third safety in the rotation after John Johnson III and Grant Delpit. That is a borderline starting position in Joe Woods’ defense, but Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah can also help to fill that role.
Harrison may want to be a full-time starter, and may very well play himself out of the range that the team is willing to pay him.
5. EDGE Jadeveon Clowney
The team reportedly attempted to sign Clowney to a lucrative three-year deal back in 2020, but he decided to bet on himself and signed a one-year prove-it deal with the Tennessee Titans, a move that did not pay off. He played well, but suffered a knee injury after eight games.
His one-year deal with the Browns is worth a maximum of $10 million, though he will count far less against the cap this season. He should be an impactful player against both the run and the pass, but will be seeking to cash in on the market again next offseason.
Could the Browns afford to pay him long-term? Theoretically, yes, but it would be wiser to pay a younger and healthier player instead.
4. G Wyatt Teller
After spending nine games as the starter in 2019, Teller burst onto the scene in 2020, proving himself to be one of the NFL’s best guards, and perhaps its best run-blocker, regardless of position. The running game suffered greatly during the five games Teller missed, despite quality backups filling his place.
Teller is no doubt extremely valuable to the offense, yet guard is the least valuable position on the line, and if Teller has another great season, he could price himself into the very top of his position group. That is a cost the Browns may be unwilling to pay, and with Joel Bitonio no longer carrying any dead money if released, the two guard spots could end up looking very different for the team sooner rather than later.
3. WR Odell Beckham Jr.
As soon as it was announced Cleveland had traded for the superstar wide receiver, the Super Bowl talk began, and how premature it was. Beckham had a relatively disappointing season, hampered by a groin issue that required surgery in the offseason. He got open, just as he always does, but Baker Mayfield struggled due to poor coaching and a lack of consistent structure.
For what he can be, Beckham is on a very team-friendly contract. But he has not produced at anywhere near that level as of yet, Even if he does have a bounce-back campaign, it may be best to move on from the third-most-expensive wide receiver room in the league, one that does provide anywhere near the production it is paid to.
Beckham has the ability to be a game-changer, one who could make or break the team’s Super Bowl hopes. Yet it has been five seasons since he last produced like the Hall of Fame talent he is. If only one of the two expensive receivers stays, it should be Beckham as the better and cheaper of the pair, but the argument to move on from both is not one that can be dismissed immediately.
OBJ is under a lot of pressure to prove he is still the same elite player he was in the past. Health is a major part of that equation.
2. RB Nick Chubb
There is a very good argument to be made that Nick Chubb is the best pure runner in the NFL. It’s impossible to understate how skilled he is, whether it’s highlighting his incredible vision, impressive power, or rare short-area agility. He is a special talent, but the position he plays is simply one of the least valuable.
Throwing the ball is the only way to consistently win in today’s game, and the front office knows this. Having an elite running game certainly helps matters, but it cannot carry a team to the Super Bowl.
Every team believes that they have the unicorn, yet no one does. Chubb is inarguably a special runner, but he is a running back nonetheless. The wide zone Shanahan/Kubiak-style scheme that Kevin Stefanski runs is designed to allow for pretty much any running back to have success.
Just look at D’Ernest Johnson’s performance against the Dallas Cowboys (not an exemplary run defense, but still), or what the San Francisco 49ers are able to do on a weekly basis with players many fans have never heard of.
If it happens, it will be very sad to see Chubb go. But paying a running back never works out. And in the position the Browns are in, making a mistake this expensive could ruin Super Bowl hopes.
1. WR Jarvis Landry
While Beckham at least has the ability to live up to his contract, Jarvis Landry simply does not. He is adept at getting open against zone coverage, which is not a valuable skillset, because pretty much any receiver can do it.
Landry is extremely ineffective against man coverage, which is what he primarily faced against Kansas City as he hauled in seven passes for just 20 yards. He operated in the same area of the fields as the tight ends, which leads to an overlap, a redundancy of skillsets. Landry does not have the ability to win downfield or to stretch the defense, yet is being paid as a No. 1 receiver who does.
It would be easy to restructure his deal, add some dead money through void years, and get his cap hit down for this season, but the fact that the team has not done this indicates that they plan to move on in 2022, which would be for the best. Landry’s cultural impact, while important, seems to be massively overstated by the majority of the fanbase, as is his high catch total.
He does not demand respect from opposing defenses, and does not contribute to Mayfield’s biggest strength, which is deep passing.
Fans will no doubt be angered when the move eventually happens, but it will be what is right for the team. And when Mayfield is no longer shackled, things will be better.