What does Browns extension with Jerry Jeudy mean?

Just weeks after the Cleveland Browns traded for Jerry Jeudy, Andrew Berry has signed the wide receiver to a three-year extension worth $58 million. With $41 million of that being guaranteed, the trade for which Berry was rated so highly has taken a slight twist.

Jeudy came to the Browns with one year left on his rookie deal, so the expectation was that he would eventually need to be re-signed, or they traded for him to only utilize one year. I’m not saying that an extension was a bad idea, but it appears Berry overpaid for Jeudy.

In four seasons in the NFL, Jeudy has a total of just over 3,000 yards and 11 touchdowns. His best season by far was in 2022 when he came up just short of 1,000 yards receiving and 6 touchdowns. 

However, based on the contract of which the full details haven’t been released, Berry will be paying Jeudy almost $20 million per season which lines up with the likes of Tee Higgins, Mike Evans, and even Amari Cooper. All three of these players have had multiple 1,000-yard seasons and have had far more consistency.

I get the fact that signing him before the season hypothetically gives you an advantage. If Jeudy comes out and has a 1,200-yard season and eight touchdowns, his market could go well over $20 million per year. But has he really earned that benefit of the doubt?

With the extension for Jeudy, this team will be limited in what they can do next season with Cooper and Elijah Moore. Berry is showing he is confident that Jeudy will outperform Moore next season, but it surprises me he didn’t have to prove at least something on the field.

If Jeudy ends up having a breakout season, you all can point back to this article and tell me how crazy I am. But if he has anything less than 1,000 yards in this offense with the targets that should be available to him, Berry may have severely overpaid for a wide receiver who has had little to no consistency in the NFL.

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