Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward. Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

Browns make move to save big money against salary cap

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 2/28/24

The Cleveland Browns made a big move on Wednesday to improve their salary cap situation.

The Browns restructured Denzel Ward’s contract to clear $11.359M in salary cap space, according to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero.

Salary cap-clearing continues …#Browns restructured CB Denzel Ward's contract, clearing $11.359M#Saints converted C Cesar Ruiz's roster bonus, clearing $6.4M

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 28, 2024

Ward had signed a five-year, $100.5M contract in 2022. He took home around $21M in 2022 and $22M in 2023. He converted just over $14M in base salary into a signing bonus in order to ameliorate matters for the Browns and give them more flexibility entering free agency.

The Browns are now in a pretty good cap situation, especially if they’re able to get Nick Chubb to restructure his deal in order to remain with the team. The big issue for them continues to be the Deshaun Watson contract.

Watson is on a five-year, $230M contract that is fully guaranteed. He has a base salary of $46M for each of the next three seasons, but worse than that, he carries a cap hit of nearly $64M in each season from 2024-26.

The Browns were able to get Watson to restructure his deal last year. The two sides may be able to do something similar this offseason.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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