After a first year of showing very little in limited opportunities, we saw two good but not great seasons from Jerome Ford. In 2024 if you are comparing him to the 50 running backs with the most rushing attempts, he ranked 29th per PFF. This was never an issue until his contract dramatically increased with the Proven Performance Escalator.
This is a threshold the league has, where he played more than 35% of snaps in two of his first three seasons his year four salary went from $1,176,389 to $3,406,000. While this might not seem like a lot it is enough for the 23rd highest paid running back in the league. At the original number you can view him as a rotational piece at the new number you want a starter or a high end backup. He is probably more suited to a mid range backup rotating into the game.
Both Jerome Ford's camp and the Cleveland Browns agreed, signing a new deal for $1.75m fully guaranteed. This gives Ford protection as he could have been kept until the final cut downs and released due to no guarantees and the team a workable contract that gives him a chance to make the final 53 man roster.
This is very different to Jordan Elliott and Harrison Bryant's contracts who went through similar situations, they got signing bonus in their deals. This is fully guaranteed base salary so it opens the door to him being traded to another team. You aren't going to get much but it is certainly on the cards still. Cutting him doesn't make much sense as you could have left him on his previous deal and done this with no dead cap from 2025.