Browns Digest

Browns Make Contract Move To Keep Offensive Lineman

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry added some much-needed salary cap space after negotiating a revised contract with Jack Conklin

Spencer German

Oct 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Jack Conklin (78) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Oct 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Jack Conklin (78) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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Money is tight for the Cleveland Browns this offseason. That's why general manager Andrew Berry is trying to get creative when it comes to creating some much-needed cap space.

For his latest trick, Berry negotiated a revised contract with starting right tackle Jack Conklin. The new deal essentially removes a year off of his previous contract, which was slated to run through the 2026 campaign, gives him $10 million for the upcoming season and includes $2 million that can be earned in incentives.

Before the revised deal, Conklin was slated to be on the books for about $17.7 million. Now he'll cut that figure down by at least two million, depending on the type of incentives the Browns agreed to.

By removing a year of Conklin's deal, that means the 30-year-old is also now slated to be a free agent following next season.

Conklin has overcome serious knee injuries twice during his five seasons in Cleveland. Back in November of 2021 the Michigan State product suffered a torn Patellar tendon and was placed on the injured reserve, ending his season.

He returned the following season and earned a four-year extension from Berry and company after returning to his reliable form. Unfortunately, disaster struck again for Conklin in Week 1 of the 2023 season as he was carted off after tearing both his ACL and MCL.

Conklin spent more than a year recovering from the ailments and subsequent surgery to repair them. He was poised to make a long-awaited return to the field in Week 4 of last year before a hamstring issue kept him out of action for an additional two weeks.

He finally made his 2024 debut in Week 6 and went on to have a productive season in his usual right tackle spot. Conklin ranked 44th among NFL tackles, according to PFF last season.

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Spencer German
SPENCER GERMAN

Spencer German is a contributor to the Northeast Ohio cluster of sites, including Cavs Insider, Cleveland Baseball Insider and most notably Browns Digest. He also works as a fill-in host on Cleveland Sports Radio, 92.3 The Fan, one of the Browns radio affiliate stations in Cleveland. Despite being a Cleveland transplant, Spencer has enjoyed making Northeast Ohio home ever since he attended college locally at John Carroll University, where he graduated in 2013.

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