Browns Dismissing Bogus Notion They Must Overpay to Attract Free Agents
There has been a popular fan theory that the Cleveland Browns had to pay what amounts to be a 'Cleveland tax' to get free agents to play in the Dawg Pound, putting them at a fundamental disadvantage, as if there was a glass ceiling they had to break through to get back in that part of the game. Whether it was Sashi Brown or now Andrew Berry leading the front office, the reality has always been that when the Browns are run by people who act professionally and don't toy with agents or players, they can attract free agents. The issue for the Browns has largely been when agents knew they were dealing with clowns atop the organization, they looked elsewhere.
Consider the fact that even after the Browns went 1-15 in 2016, they were able to sign J.C. Tretter, Kevin Zeitler, Jason McCourty, and yes, Kenny Britt. Not all of those moves worked, but they were able to sign them at market rates. They didn't have overpay to get them to play for the Browns.
The season after that, agents and players saw increased influence from Hue Jackson, knew exactly who he was and had no interest in betting any part of their careers on him. The perceived credibility that John Dorsey was supposed to have, didn't help them as much as they hoped. Now, with Kevin Stefanski as the head coach, who has met with far better reviews from players in the NFL than media when he was a contender for the job, combined with a first-year general manager who knows what he wants to do in Andrew Berry, the Browns have been able to sign players at market rates. And a number of those deals have been bargains.
Despite reports Jack Conklin might get closer to $17 to $18 million per year, the Browns got him for $14 million per year. Austin Hooper's deal is a little riskier, but he still got what was expected for his services, averaging $10.5 million per year.
Dorsey made some aggressive trades in part because opportunities were there, but that was largely all he had at his disposal. Between Hue Jackson and Freddie Kitchens as head coaches, the latter which he insisted on fighting for to his own bitter end, it was a more difficult sell to prospective players and agents. Sheldon Richardson was a big addition to the defense, but Dorsey didn't really fill out the entire roster and the lack of depth proved costly.
Particularly on the defensive side of the ball, Berry has made a really interesting choice. Rather than trying to lock up players to longer term deals, he's giving the Browns the ability to audit players for a year. They may go ahead and let most of them walk, trying to keep a few longer, but it's also allowing players and agents to audit Berry, Stefanski and this new Browns regime. If it goes well, not only on the field, but on the business side, in terms of professionalism and making the Browns a good environment, that reputation will spread, first among agents but as players go other places, they can help sell Cleveland as a city.
The Browns didn't get every free agent they wanted in this class, but they were straight shooters and players made choices based on what they felt was best for them. To this point, the Browns have signed 12 players so far in free agency, adding some pieces to their offense and retooling their defense to be more in line with what this front office and coaching staff are trying to do.
And when the dust settles and all of the contracts are finally signed, the Browns are still going to have North of $35 million in cap space. If they roll it over into 2021, that would become around $70 million, plus the contracts that would be coming off the cap, which would include any one-year deal they've signed this year and Olivier Vernon's notable $15.5 million figure, which could enable the Browns to be very aggressive. The Cleveland Browns have never had to pay a penalty for playing in Cleveland with free agents. They've had to pay a price for having terrible people run their franchise, which might have just finally ended after a shade under a quarter century.
