5 trade or releases Cleveland Browns could make this offseason
By John Suchan
Cleveland Browns player No. 2 to be released: Austin Hooper
There’s been a lot of chatter about the tight-end position on the Browns. David Njoku is a free agent and will likely be looking around the league for a great deal and he will certainly draw a lot of attention. My DPD colleague, Jacob Roach wrote recently about keeping him here with a re-sign.
If Njoku were to re-sign then there might not be a need for a player like fellow tight end Austin Hooper, who isn’t yet a free agent but would be very expensive to try and keep and make this team better than a year ago.
If Cleveland were to release Hooper after June 1st this summer, they would save $9.5 million in cap space and only have to absorb $3.75 in dead cap money. That seems like an excellent idea considering none of the tight ends ran away with things offensively and Kevin Stefanski’s offense loves the tight end position.
The Browns could invest more time in this year’s NFL Draft in April trying to find a new tight end to play alongside Njoku and Harrison Bryant and not have to overpay as a team is now with Hooper in the current lineup.