Why the Cleveland Browns Won't Cut Denzel Ward for Salary Cap Purposes

With the NFL offseason in full swing, salary cap compliance takes up a huge part of a front office’s attention.

The Cleveland Browns are one of 13 teams currently projected to be over the salary cap for the 2026 NFL season, according to the specialized website OverTheCap.com, and cap casualties are part of the process every year.

So, should Denzel Ward, one of the team’s most accomplished defenders and a fan favorite, become one of the aforementioned cap casualties in order to help alleviate the Browns’ situation under the cap, as was recently suggested on an NFL.com piece?

The answer quite simply is a resounding no. Not only is there no need to cut Ward for salary cap purposes, but there’s simply no good reason to get rid of one of your franchise’s best players, a locker room leader, and one of the few stars that has shown willingness to tough out the hard times in Cleveland.

Ward could save the Browns cap space, but why?

Sure, cutting Ward would save the Browns a little under $20 million in cap space if designated as a post-June 1st transaction. However, on a roster so devoid of top shelf talent and depth -- with exceptions including Ward being very few -- why let him go? We’re talking about a 28-year old cornerback coming off his fifth Pro Bowl season, including third in a row. It’s not some clearly over-the-hill player who has overstayed his welcome.

So, what can the Browns do with Wards’ cap number? A restructure could lower his current cap hit for 2026 of $32.9 million to almost half of that, by kicking some of those cap charges to the future, something that Cleveland is very comfortable doing.

And, don’t forget that each NFL team can only use two post-June designations per year.

This is especially meaningful for a team like Cleveland that’s about to see a slew of cap hits being accelerated from void years off the contracts of multiple players, such as Devin Bush, Wyatt Teller, Ethan Pocic, Jack Conklin, Joel Bitonio, David Njoku, Shelby Harris and Teven Jenkins for a total of around $67 million -- according to Spotrac -- set to count as dead money against this year’s cap. No other team in the NFL is within $19 million in accelerated cap charges of the league-leading Browns for the upcoming season.

Wild anyone would suggest the #Browns would cut 28yr old CB Denzel Ward

2025 PFF man coverage ranks
(Min 450 coverage snaps)

-2nd in man cov% (39.6)
-Tied 7th in forced incompletions (6)
-9th in yds per rec (9.8)

No way he’s let go for nothing
pic.twitter.com/jLp1s3fZN7
— Mac🦬 (@tha_buffalo) February 17, 2026

Other Resources The Browns Have To Get Under the Salary Cap

All the team really needs to do to get cap compliant is to do one more restructure on Deshaun Watson’s deal. His current cap hit of close to $81 million is tops in the NFL, and his contract already includes several void years designed to spread out some cap chargers in future years.

However, it’s widely understood that 2026 is his last season with the Browns, and all that money sent into void years will appear as dead money between the 2027 and 2028 seasons, through a post-June designation next year, when he becomes a free agent.

The good news for Cleveland is that a restructure to his $46 million salary for this season would create over $35 million in cap space for this year, more than enough to compensate for the projected $10 million dollar deficit plus the incoming rookie class. Of course, any team aspiring to be active in free agency would likely need more, but it’s a start.

The downside, of course, is that once Watson is off the roster in 2027, he’ll leave a dead cap charge of over $86 million -- a new NFL record -- which like we stated above, would impact the 2027 cap and the 2028 cap.

Trading for Watson ranks among the league’s worst deals ever, and its impact on the Browns finances over the next few years are just part of the ramifications. But the team has known this would happen for some time. At this point, restructuring Watson once more is inescapable.

Re-signing Joel Bitonio, in case he chooses not to retire, would also do wonders for the cap situation. And restructuring Ward would give the Browns enough maneuverability for free agency.

NFL teams such as the Browns are banking on future caps rising exponentially as they have done recently, including this year. This strategy has been working. Those charges will be on the books at some point, but they’ll represent a smaller portion of the cap as long as it keeps ballooning on a yearly basis.