The Cleveland Browns were officially eliminated from playoff contention following a Week 14 loss to Tennessee, sending a tumultuous franchise into offseason mode.

Cleveland currently possesses just under $7M of projected cap space in 2026, with 41 contracts on the books. 7 of those contracts are void caps that will convert to dead cap without a preceding extension. In other words, there’s plenty of work to be done here to get the Browns in a healthy enough state financially to attempt to upgrade this March.

Cleveland currently projects to hold 11 draft picks next April, including two 1st round selections (JAX), and three 5th rounders. Draft Pick Outlook

Early Offseason Questions

  • Will GM Andrew Berry and HC Kevin Stefanski remain in their roles?
  • How does the Deshaun Watson scenario ($80M cap hit, $131M of dead cap) play out? (see below)
  • How will Cleveland address 4/5th of an (underperforming) offensive line slated for free agency?
  • Is the likely starting 2026 QB on the roster right now?

Notable Free Agents

(Current Spotrac APY Valuation)

LT Cam Robinson ($12.8M)
G Joel Bitonio ($12M)
C Ethan Pocic ($11M)
TE David Njoku ($10.75M)
G Wyatt Teller ($10.5M)
LB Devin Bush ($9M)

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Extension Candidate

G Teven Jenkins

The 2021 2nd-round pick by Chicago signed in Cleveland on an extremely team-friendly 1 year, $3M contract this past March, slotting him in as a reserve lineman. Injuries along the line thrust him into a starting role late in the year, and with multiple members of Cleveland’s O-Line slated for free agency, have opened a window for Jenkins to stick long-term.

Bubble Candidates

RT Jack Conklin

Release Candidate

The 31-year-old signed a restructured agreement with Cleveland this past March that reduced his 2025 salary from $15M to $9M, with minimum salaries designated for 2026 & 2027. While another extension is possible, a Post 6/1 Designation release seems the most likely outcome here. The Browns will keep his $5.6M cap on the books through May, then take on dead cap hits of $4.3M in 2026, $8.3M in 2027.

WR Jerry Jeudy

Trade Candidate

Jeudy’s $6M option bonus for 2026 is already fully guaranteed, but the Browns can ship that out to an acquiring team before it needs to be exercised (March 25th). The problem? An early March trade would represent a cap loss of around $350,000. But if the 26-year-old isn’t for the next iteration of this Cleveland offense, draft compensation might be worthy of the dead cap.

Potential Cap Conversions

It would behoove the Browns to tread extremely lightly in regards to pushing additional salary cap into the 2027 season (and beyond), as Deshaun Watson’s parting shot (at least $50M of void cap) awaits. With that said, Cleveland doesn’t currently boast enough cap room to begin the league year (especially once reserve/future contracts, adjustments, etc… hit the books in the coming weeks). Franchise cornerstone CB Denzel Ward ($32.9M cap figure for 2026) is a player to watch here, as the Browns could choose to go one of a few directions. He’s a fringe trade/release candidate (but only frees up $3.3M in that regard), a fringe extension candidate (2 years, $40.5M remaining), or maybe just a plain and simple salary conversion candidate ($15M cleared).

The other elephant in the room here of course is QB Deshaun Watson, who boasts a league-high $80.7M cap figure for the upcoming season. Cleveland processed a full salary conversion prior to the 2025 season, their 3rd-straight year doing so. In the latest renegotiation of this contract, the Browns made it possible to keep Watson through 2026 (fully guaranteed $46M), then carry the contract into the 2027 league year for purposes of designating him a Post 6/1 release. They did so by making 2027, and 2028 actual salaried seasons instead of “dummy/void” years. In return, Watson’s contract contains a poison pill: a $200M salary guarantee for 2029 that is set to vest on the 3rd league day of 2027.

Long story short, Watson will remain on the books through 2026, and Cleveland will designate him a Post 6/1 release prior to that 3rd league day, thus spreading the leftover salary cap across 2027 & 2028. For now, that amounts to $50.4M in total.

But if Cleveland processes another salary conversion for 2026, that final dead cap figure will increase. Let’s assume the Browns process a full salary conversion on the 2026 salary, lowering Watson’s cap hit from $80.7M, down to $44.9M ($35.76M saved in 2026). This would result in $86.2M of dead cap now residing in 2027. A Post 6/1 Designation that March would leave behind dead cap hits of $34.6M for 2027, & $51.54M for 2028.

RELATED LINKS
2026 Browns Salary Cap Table
2026 Browns Free Agents
Spotrac Offseason Guides