3 moves Browns will make after trading for Jerry Jeudy
By Greg Newland
Andrew Berry pulled another Cleveland Browns special on Saturday afternoon as most of us were thinking about free agency which doesn’t start until Monday afternoon. But instead of looking for a wide receiver in free agency and competing with 31 other teams, Berry made a trade with the Denver Broncos who are in full rebuild mode for Jerry Jeudy.
The compensation looks strong for the Browns as they only gave up a fifth and sixth-round pick for Jeudy who was previously a first-round pick just four seasons ago. But we must remember he only has one year remaining on his deal.
Jeudy will likely play the 2024 season on his fifth-year option which is a fully guaranteed contract just under $13 million. We’ve already seen restructures with Denzel Ward and Jedrick Wills the last week to free up cap space, but I don’t think Berry is done just yet.
As we head into the first week of free agency, here are the three next moves Berry should make after the Jeudy Trade.
Browns Move No. 3: Restructure Deshaun Watson
The move we have all been waiting for this offseason is the Deshaun Watson restructure. His current contract has a cap hit of more than $63 million which can be manipulated to free up space.
Look for Jimmy and Dee Haslem to give Berry a blank check to move a portion to a signing bonus and add another void year which will likely free up another $20 million in cap space for 2024.
Berry has been strategic to make the move just yet so free agents don’t have additional leverage on the team, but now that he won’t be chasing a wide receiver, I think you’ll see an announcement in the next few days that the Watson deal has been restructured.