Even after trading away Myles Garrett, the bulk of the Cleveland Browns’ defensive core consists of drafted and developed players. Safety Grant Delpit is one of those shining examples.
Delpit was validated as one of the top-15 safeties in the NFL this week in ESPN’s anonymous annual poll of league scouts, execs, and coaches. That’s not news to Browns fans, who watched Delpit battle back from a freak non-contact Achilles injury during the summer of his rookie season and emerge as the impact starter everyone envisioned as the No. 44 overall pick in the 2020 draft.
He fully arrived in Year 3 during a 2022 regular season that saw him start 16 games, notch over 100 combined tackles, and fly around the field in pass coverage to the tune of four interceptions and 10 pass breakups. That monster season helped the team justify a three-year, $36 million extension that was finalized in December 2023.
Now set to turn 28 in September, one of the big storylines of the Browns’ offseason is Delpit’s next deal. He’s on an expiring contract, set to earn a respectable $12 million salary in 2026.
But as usual with Browns contracts during the Andrew Berry era, his current deal includes four dummy years used as placeholders for prorated salary cap charges. Per Over the Cap, those charges will accelerate to a $16.9 million dead-cap charge in 2027 if his contract voids as currently scheduled next February, around President’s Day.
The Browns could continue to kick those cap charges down the road by signing Delpit to another extension this year. It’s left fans asking the same question: Why isn’t the team prioritizing one of its best defensive starters?
One AFC executive may have uncovered at least part of that answer, as reported by ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler in this year’s anonymous poll.
“He can blitz, cover tight ends, aggressive, instinctive,” the exec said of Delpit, who was an honorable mention in ESPN's rankings. “He would be up there if he had more ball production."
How the numbers may be impacting Grant Delpit's next extension
When it comes to negotiating a multi-year contract into your early 30s, Delpit is already facing an uphill climb. The NFL’s safety market had been brutal prior to Kyle Hamilton’s $100 million extension with the Baltimore Ravens last summer. He still only became the league’s fourth safety to average over $20 million per season.
Delpit’s next deal should fall below that tier, more in line with players like Xavier McKinney ($16.75 million) and Tre’von Moehrig ($17 million). Spotrac projects Delpit’s market value at $15.4 million in average annual salary.
The Browns could be hesitant to come up to that number, especially after drafting a talented young safety in Emmanuel McNeil-Warren this past April. They also still have an ascending talent in Ronnie Hickman to play center field, and as a former undrafted free agent, the Browns have more leverage on Hickman’s salary. He’s set to play the 2026 season on a $3.5 million restricted free agent tender.
Delpit’s ball production could be another piece of the puzzle here. While his impact on the field for the Browns’ defense has been undeniable, Delpit’s numbers do fail in comparison to players in his age and talent tier like McKinney, Moehrig, Coby Bryant, Jalen Pitre, and Antoine Winfield Jr.
Delpit only has seven career interceptions, with four of them coming during that big 2022 season. Over the past three years, he’s recorded two interceptions and eight total pass breakups (typically abbreviated as PD, or passes defended).
Winfield, over that same timeframe, has five INTs and 23 PDs (along with seven forced fumbles, just for good measure). McKinney has 13 INTs and 22 PDs. Pitre has five INTs and 25 PDs. Moehrig has six INTs and 20 PDs. Bryant has seven INTs and 13 PDs — all in the past two seasons.
Delpit has been around the football plenty. He had a career-high 111 total tackles in 2024. This past season, he showed improvement as a blitzer with career highs in sacks (3) and QB hits (7).
But he’s been less productive than his peers in that 26-to-27 age range over the bulk of his previous extension, and his next one could be suffering as a result.
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