5 best moves of the Cleveland Browns 2021 offseason

3. Managing the cap

The Browns began to roll over a significant amount of cap space in 2016, and over the past few seasons have carried the most expensive roster in the NFL, overspending the salary cap because of that rollover cushion.

There are legitimate questions as to whether the team is getting proper return on investment from certain players and position groups, but the process of continual rollover has given Cleveland a competitive advantage, one that must not be wasted.

Cleveland did spend quite a bit of cash this offseason, handing out over $73 million in free agency. They now have over $187.5 in spending (second-highest in the league), over $5 million past the 2021 cap. And yet, thanks to smart accounting (and some difficult decisions), the team ranks fourth in the NFL in cap space at just over $20 million.

That number is going to plummet in the coming seasons as extensions kick in and backloaded contracts and void years come due, but that rollover space is why the Browns will be able to keep their core players around long-term while retaining the flexibility to improve in free agency.

Berry, Paul DePodesta, and the rest of the front office are extremely smart people. They have a plan in place and know the ramifications of every single dollar they spend. The cap shortfall due to the COVID-19 pandemic was devastating to many teams. Cleveland is one of the few that will emerge on the other side relatively unscathed, because of their careful financial planning.