Cleveland Browns: Denzel Ward wants to be around for the long haul

Denzel Ward wants to stick with the Cleveland Browns for the long haul.

Denzel Ward is one of the best players on the Cleveland Browns, who have assembled one of the NFL’s best rosters, and that’s being completely unbiased.

Ward had a strong 2019 campaign in which he had a career-best 18 pass deflections, and opposing passers still only completed 54.3 percent of their passes thrown in Ward’s direction in primary coverage.

Through his three seasons with the Browns, opposing passers have completely just 51.2 percent of their throws against Ward in primary coverage, on that subject, which has been pretty darn good on Ward’s part. He’s had seven interceptions in his career so far, too.

With that in mind, though, an extension for him, with Ward heading into Year 4, would seemingly be a conversation that’s set to be in the cards, projecting onward. As we hit on, he is clearly one of Cleveland’s best and most important players, and fortunately, he is looking to stick around with the Orange and Brown for the foreseeable future.

Here was more on that from Ward, who stated his agent and the team have had conversations regarding a potential extension, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Hopefully, Ward’s camp/the Browns can get something done.

Putting it bluntly, Ward has established himself as one of the league’s best cornerbacks in his first three seasons, and Cleveland’s free-agent acquisitions of John Johnson III, Troy Hill, and Jadeveon Clowney, from a pass rush standpoint, should help the budding star cornerback out. The same could realistically go for Ronnie Harrison in a second season with Cleveland, and Grant Delpit, if he can be mostly healthy next season, should aid Cleveland’s key coverage guys, with rookie Greg Newsome II in mind, too.

Granted, a potential Ward extension would be pricey as one would assume. CBS Sports’ Jared Dubin demonstrated that as well, and noted how Ward/his camp would feasibly be seeking near-top of the market compensation.

"“Given his play and and his age (24 years old), it’s likely that Ward will seek a deal at or near the top of the cornerback market. Jalen Ramsey’s five-year, $100 million is currently the largest deal for a cornerback. He also tops the league with a $20 million average annual value, $25 million signing bonus, $43.7 million guaranteed at signing, and $71.2 million in practical guarantees.Ward still has one year remaining on his rookie contract, plus the fifth-year option, which means he’s set to earn around $22.7 million total for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. It seems unlikely that he’ll top Ramsey’s deal, but he could come in somewhere in the range of players like Marlon Humphrey and Tre’Davious White…Ward could be seeking something like $80-100 million in new money, depending on how long his deal runs.” – Dubin, CBS Sports"

We’ll have to see what plays out in regards to a potential Ward extension with the Browns, but it’s evident that it’s something that’s probably going to continue to be discussed from here. In today’s NFL, corners like Ward, especially ones primarily on the perimeter, are so crucial to a defense’s success.

Players of Ward’s caliber at such an important position do not grow on trees, as we know.

Now, Ward has had some injuries though, and has missed four games each of the past two seasons. And obviously, he’ll need to be healthier moving forward to continue to be a key, impact contributor for the Orange and Brown to be at their best on the defensive side.

At any rate, it is also worth noting that Nick Chubb’s agent and the Browns could seemingly be working out a potential contract extension sooner than later too, based on Chubb’s recent comments and as DPD’s Randy Gurzi hit on. So that’s something we’ll keep monitoring.

Plus, a possible Baker Mayfield extension has to be factored in as far as down the road, one would imagine as well, and we’ll have to see regarding that also.

In any case, it’s great to know that Ward ideally wants to be a Browns lifer, and Chubb in that realm too. It will be interesting to see what plays out in relation to both with potential extension talks to come, however.