While Andrew Berry and the Cleveland Browns have done a lot of good in the 2022 offseason, these three moves still don’t make a lot of sense.
Coming into the 2022 offseason, the Cleveland Browns had a ton of question marks. Not only did they have an extremely disappointing season, but they also had a lot of moving parts on their roster that they needed to make a decision on.
Andrew Berry didn’t waste any time. He traded for an elite wide receiver in Amari Cooper, he re-signed David Njoku, Jadeveon Clowney, and Denzel Ward back to the team. Njoku and Clowney on short-term deals, but a long-term extension for Ward who started to play extremely well at the end of the season.
There weren’t a ton of new additions to the roster, but he did a great job of retaining. Additionally, he also cut a few guys who were overpaid and had limited production the last few seasons in Jarvis Landry, J.C. Tretter, and Austin Hooper. All tough decisions, but the right ones for the path forward.
The biggest move of the offseason was deciding to change direction at quarterback and giving up six draft picks (three first-rounders) to acquire Deshaun Watson. Berry has yet to find a suitor for former starter, Baker Mayfield, but the end of the relationship is inevitable at this point.
Does this fix the Browns? Well, that remains to be seen, and a huge question mark that remains is will Watson be suspended for any amount of time in the 2022 season? It appears his civil suits will be pushed until after the 2022 season, but some believe punishment could come from the league before that is all settled.
While a lot of good happened this offseason, there were a few puzzling moves that just don’t add up. Keep in mind, that there is still plenty of time this offseason for Berry to finalize his puzzle.
Disappointing Offseason Move No. 3 – Release of Austin Hooper
Let me be clear, no one deserved to be cut more than Austin Hooper this offseason. I truly like the guy, but he never lived up to the four-year, $42 million contract he signed in 2020. I’m not sure it was him or Baker Mayfield, but they could just never get in sync.
So, on one side I totally agree with the cut, but the puzzling move now is, what are they going to do at tight end? I know David Njoku and Harrison Bryant are on the roster, but neither are known for their blocking and we all know that Kevin Stefanski loves to have three tight ends on the field.
My point is, why not just keep Hooper even at the high salary if you didn’t have a backup plan? The salary cap isn’t an issue for the Browns, and there was a good amount of dead cap by cutting Hooper this early into his deal.
Njoku was clearly the best tight end on the roster last year, but Hooper did do a fantastic job of blocking. I would also argue that he could have had a breakout year in 2022 with Watson now at quarterback who is far better than Mayfield at checking down to running backs and tight ends.
There’s still time for Berry to add another tight end in free agency, but if we go into week one with the roster “as is” at tight end, many will have wished that Hooper remained on the roster.
Disappointing Offseason Move No. 2 – Contract Structures
One thing that has continued to catch me off guard, is the way that Andrew Berry structures his agreements. On many of the one-year deals, he continues to put in a large number of void years, and on the large extensions, he pushes so much of the salary to the last two years of the deal.
Before you all start screaming, I understand how this works and that a lot of teams do this and just continue to restructure or cut the player. My confusion on the structure is that the Cleveland Browns still have plenty of cap space to spend the money now.
Anthony Walker and Jadeveon Clowney (still not official on the structure) are perfect examples. They are one-year deals with up to four years of voided contracts which means we will be paying them long after they are even on this roster.
If you look at the Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, and Deshaun Watson agreements, they alone will be over $110 million of cap space in 2026. I know, I’m getting way too far ahead of myself, but I have seen teams like the Saints and Steelers play this salary game so long, and eventually catch up and bite you.
One thing I know is Berry is far smarter than me, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about how the team will handle the cap in a few years.
Disappointing Offseason Move No. 1 – Round 2 trade back
The trade of Troy Hill is still puzzling to me.
There was very little compensation, and the Cleveland Browns still had to take on a lot of dead cap. It did make the pick of Martin Emerson, a cornerback from Mississippi State make more sense but I still think it was a reach at pick No. 68 in Round 3.
What I hate most about it, is that had the Browns kept their original pick in Round 2, they could have ended up with the receiver out of Alabama, John Mechie III. Not only could Metchie have made an instant impact on the offense as a rookie, but he would also have been by far the most talented player drafted by the Browns.
We saw the same thing happen last year, everyone thought Odell Beckham was just going to turn it on as the No. 1 guy, with Landry and Donovan Peoples-Jones the answer as the No. 2 and three guys.
Boy did they have all those guys overvalued, and the team really struggled with a lack of production at the position.
Let me be clear, Amari Cooper is a clear upgrade as the No. 1 receiver, but I’m still not sold on the depth of the position.
I think keeping Hill and drafting Metchie would have made far more sense, but I understand that Berry wanted to trade back and collect picks after giving up so much to get Watson.