How the Cleveland Browns Restructured Tytus Howard’s Contract To Create Cap Space

Since the Deshaun Watson trade, the Cleveland Browns front office has had to make various contractual changes across the roster in hopes of avoiding the bottom of the salary cap totem pole and maintaining the ability to make trades and sign free agents.

Following the decision to acquire Tytus Howard from the Houston Texans, the front office made significant changes to his cap hit.

On Monday, March 16, ESPN Browns Insider Daniel Oyefusi released information that the Browns increased their cap space to $21 million by lowering Howard's 2026 cap hit in his two-year, $45-million extension.

The new deal reportedly has veteran minimum base salaries in ‘26, ‘27 and ‘28, an $18.4 million option bonus in ‘27 and a $14.3 million option bonus in ‘28. It also has per-game roster bonuses up to $1 mil in ‘27 and ‘28 and four void years.

More contract details are coming in, and the Browns have increased their cap space to $21 mil, per Over the Cap, by lowering Tytus Howard’s 2026 cap hit in his 2-year, $45 million extension.

The new deal has vet min base salaries in ‘26, ‘27 and ‘28, an $18.4 million option…
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) March 16, 2026

The Browns made this trade to bring in Howard back on March 2, roughly two weeks ago, in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. He is entering his eighth season of professional ball, with the Texans being just the second team he has been a part of.

The best part is, he started in all 93 games played, showcasing reliability and consistency on the gridiron.

After joining the team, he spoke about his excitement to get to work and acclimate himself in the organization quickly.

"I'm excited for a fresh start," Howard said. "Being in a city with such a love for football, and just excited to get here and make an impact – especially on the offensive line, to give Shedeur (Sanders), Deshaun (Watson), all these quarterbacks as much time as possible, to make an impact every day and win some games."

What the Browns Can Do With the Extra Cap

The front office has already spent a ton of money and resources ahead of the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft in hopes of upgrading the offensive line. After the struggles the team had in the 2025 season, that position group was obviously in need of repair.

Howard will give them a boost, especially with the new re-worked deal spreading out his money a bit further.

The Browns now have $21,128,289 in total cap space for 2026, while their space in 2027 and 2028, as of now, sits at $80,664,44 and $116,770,061, respectively. The mark they sit at in 2026 isn't a terribly high amount, but it puts them right in the middle of the league in space.

They sit just less than $4 million behind the New York Giants and under $10 million behind the Detroit Lions. The hope is that the $20 million, while they won't use all of it, will allow them to comfortably sign a few more role players in free agency and sign the team's draft picks.

All of these numbers are according to OverTheCap.

So, in short, they can't do much with the money they saved on the Howard extension.

If anything, they are just pushing some of that contractual value past the 2026 season, which will likely be Watson's last in The Land, giving the front office less stress on trying to bring bodies in ahead of the upcoming campaign.