Denzel Ward #21 of the Cleveland Browns
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Denzel Ward #21 of the Cleveland Browns
When it comes to the way the Cleveland Browns can approach this year’s free-agency period, the many massive needs the team has to fill can only be addressed by pulling the necessary levers to clear out some of the salary mess the team has gotten itself into in recent years. The Browns need receivers. They need offensive linemen. They could certainly use a quarterback. And the team needs depth pretty much across the board.
GM Andrew Berry is still managing the weight of the disastrous Deshaun Watson contract, and the team has one more year before it can begin to put that deal behind them. So for this year, the team needs to juggle as much as it can with a decent, but limited, budget.
“It’ll be targeted and opportunistic,” Berry said last week. “I think realistically we may be one more offseason away from being like hyper-aggressive in that window. But if there’s something that fits us, fits our roster, fits our timeline, then it’s certainly a swing we’ll take.”
Browns Seeking to Create Cap Space With Denzel Ward Move
In the meantime, the Browns are seeking to create as much space as possible, and on Saturday morning, they made a minor move on a key player to keep building their pile of available spending space. The Browns adjusted the contract of star corner Denzel Ward.
The move was reported by cap-guru sites OverTheCap.com and Spotrac.
On Twitter, the OTC account noted, “The Browns restructured Denzel Ward’s contract. Its a minor one creating just $2 million in cap room by converting his $2.5M roster bonus.”
And Spotrac sent out the same news, “The#Browns converted CB Denzel Ward’s $2.5M roster bonus into signing bonus, creating $2M of cap space.”
The move, of course, is strictly a bookkeeping one that won’t affect the status of Ward on the team. Ward has been a five-time Pro Bowler in his eight seasons with the Browns, and a mainstay of the team’s defensive backfield. He had nine passes defended in 2025, after leading the league with 14 in 2024.
Ward is in the middle of a five-year, $100 million contract he signed in 2022.
Plenty of Spots to Fill, Limited Resources
The natural question for the Browns once they complete all the cap conversions they’re going to make to their current roster and payroll sheet is, what to do with that money once it is created?
The Browns have already made one transaction, acquiring Tytus Howard to play on the offensive line next year. The Browns gave up a fifth-round pick for Howard, and paid him a $63 million extension in the deal.
Cleveland needs receiver help, and needs more offensive linemen. But there is still a belief that the team could push for the top quarterback on the market, Malik Willis.
Browns Still in on Top QB Malik Willis?
For Browns insider Zac Jackson, that remains Plan A for the Browns as decision-time nears.
Said Jackson: “This year, I think the plan is to go get Malik Willis. Right? And if that doesn’t work then the plan is to trade for Anthony Richardson or go about another w3ay to get a guy in there to compete. When he talked open competition, wanting to judge these guys in and get them on the field and basically use OTAs and maybe just the start of camp, he means that.
“But I can guarantee you the competition is not just Shedeur vs. Deshaun. It’s either Malik Willis and it’s not a competition, or it’s Shedeur vs. Deshaun vs. someone else.”