3 players Cleveland Browns should pay with Odell Beckham’s money
By Greg Newland
The Cleveland Browns have a little extra cash for 2021 than they were originally planning. Andrew Berry should lock up one of these three guys.
Not only did the Cleveland Browns have their biggest win of the season on Sunday vs. the Cincinnati Bengals, but they also cleared $30 million of cap space over the next two years by moving on from Odell Beckham Jr.
The bad news of this scenario, Beckham will likely clear waivers which means the Browns are on the hook for his full salary in 2021 and he would then be free to go to the team of his choosing. But the Browns seemed to move on quickly and looked like an entirely different team on Sunday.
For whatever reason, Baker Mayfield looked more relaxed, Donovan Peoples-Jones stepped up in a huge way, and the offensive line was fantastic. Not everything always has to make sense, and the Cleveland Browns being a better team without OBJ on the roster is just one of those things that does not make sense, but is the truth.
With the win, the Browns still have all their goals ahead of them. They can still make the playoffs, they can still win the AFC North, and if they play like Sunday, they could even contend for a Super Bowl. Not only did the offense look better, but the defense also put together their best performance of the year with three turnovers, five sacks, and a touchdown.
No doubt Kevin Stefanski has this team focused on 2021 and winning, but general manager, Andrew Berry, has already started thinking on ways of spending that money OBJ will no longer eat up. These three players are already on the roster and should be considered.