The Cleveland Browns’ first big free-agent splash of 2026 was true to form, with GM Andrew Berry crafting a three-year, $49.5 million contract for guard Zion Johnson that isn’t entirely what it seems on paper.
Johnson’s definitely getting paid, especially in Year 1 of the deal, which includes over $18 million in real cash. But the contract also includes five void years, per Over the Cap, allowing Berry to methodically spread out Johnson’s signing and option bonuses for salary cap purposes.
Berry famously stated that the Browns would have “ample cap space” in this new league year, but the terms of Tyler Linderbaum’s contract agreement with the Las Vegas Raiders expose the nuance in that statement. While Berry knows the NFL’s salary cap game better than most thanks to his background with Howie Roseman in Philadelphia, there are obvious limitations when it comes to guaranteed money.
On that front, the Browns never really had a chance to sign the best offensive lineman in this year's market. Linderbaum not only fit a position of need for the Browns, who lost center Ethan Pocic in December to a torn Achilles tendon, but he was a perennial Pro Bowler in Todd Monken’s offense during their time together in Baltimore.
Contrary to popular belief, the Browns indeed had enough cap space to win the Linderbaum sweepstakes, even at his astronomical number of $27 million per year (an unprecedented haul for an NFL center).
What they couldn’t compete with was the real bags of cash that Las Vegas brought to the table. The details of Linderbaum’s three-year, $81 million contract leave little to the imagination. It’s a de facto fully guaranteed deal, per Spotrac, the type that Berry’s cap tricks were powerless to compete with.
The math was never going to add up for Tyler Linderbaum and the Browns
Hours after the Linderbaum deal with Las Vegas was announced, ESPN insider Dan Graziano reacted candidly to the full contract details. He only needed two words to describe it: “a monster." And his breakdown described why.
By virtue of a $20 million signing bonus, Linderbaum will earn $30 million in real cash with a $16.6 million cap hit in 2026. His base salary then jumps to another $30 million in 2027, which the Raiders agreed to fully guarantee at signing. His 2028 base salary will drop slightly to $21 million but includes an injury guarantee through the entire 2026 season. That 2028 salary then converts to a full guarantee on the third day of the 2027 league year.
In other words, Linderbaum can essentially bank on all $81 million hitting his bank account before he even plays a snap for the Raiders. He’ll actually deposit $60 million of that number over the first two years of the deal.
No team-friendly loopholes. No gimmicks. No void years. This is about as player-centric as it gets in the NFL world, and the Browns were in no position to try and match or beat out the Raiders.
They had no choice but to bow out and let their dream free agent target head West.