Previous Position Room
We will start by looking at how Andrew Berry's position room has been built to start the season each year:
2020 - Garrett, Vernon, Clayborn, Jackson, Gustin
2021 - Garrett, Clowney, McKinley, Jackson
2022 - Garrett, Clowney, Winovich, Wright, Thomas
2023 - Garrett, Smith, Okoronkwo, Wright, McGuire
2024 - Garrett, Smith, Okoronkwo, Wright, McGuire
2025 - Garrett, McGuire, Wright, Tryon-Shoyinka, Thomas
Cash Spending Per Year
2020 - $38,462,125
2021 - $35,784,000
2022 - $32,520,476
2023 - $36,737,545
2024 - $40,725,109
2025 - $35,388,502
Current Contracts
Myles Garrett
2026 - $32,500,000 (fully guaranteed)
2027 - $42,703,000 (fully guaranteed)
2028 - $24,796,000 (rolling guarantees)
2029 - $40,000,000 (no guarantees)
2030 - $40,000,000 (no guarantees)
Alex Wright
2026 - $8,500,000 (fully guaranteed)
2027 - $11,000,000 (no guarantees)
2028 - $11,000,000 (no guarantees)
Isaiah McGuire
2026 - $3,674,000 (no guarantees)
Julian Okwara
2026 - $1,075,000 (no guarantees)
Logan Fano
2026 - $920,000 ($310,000 guaranteed)
2027 - $1,050,000 (no guarantees)
2028 - $1,165,000 (no guarantees)
2029 - Restricted Free Agent
Khordae Sydnor
2026 - $912,500 ($275,000 guaranteed)
2027 - $1,050,000 (no guarantees)
2028 - $1,165,000 (no guarantees)
2029 - Restricted Free Agent
Tyreak Sapp
2026 - $910,000 ($60,000 guaranteed)
2027 - $1,050,000 (no guarantees)
2028 - $1,165,000 (no guarantees)
2029 - Restricted Free Agent
Final 53
Myles Garrett
Alex Wright
Isaiah McGuire
Free Agent
Logan Fano (is the favorite but a three way competition)
Myles Garrett currently leads the position room, but until we get to the 1st of September there are going to be questions despite the frustration of Andrew Berry. The Cleveland Browns changed his contract earlier in the offseason and the only difference over the next three seasons was it expanded his trade window to the start of the season. When we get to that point, his $29.2m option bonus will be due and the counter productive decision to trade your star player at a premium position can go on hold for another year.
After a poor rookie year, a good second season then struggling early in year three before getting injured, Alex Wright finally was back to his best in year four. After the bye he turned it on and his pass rushing finally came together. He doesn't play a massive amount of snaps though and needs to show he can be a second edge on a team rather than a talented third part, especially at $11m a year.
Isaiah McGuire is a confusing player, he provides good pressure numbers if you look at the totals, the issue is when you see two thirds of his 2025 pressures came in weeks 1, 2 & against the Raiders you see the boom and bust production. That is great from a rotational rusher but he likely aspires to be more, he will have a chance in 2026 to show he can be more. I wonder if he will also do a deal with his $3.674m contract to get some guarantees, but that only happens when the team is willing to cut the player else why would the player sacrifice the money. How camp goes will be interesting for him. It could be a mix of guarantees and incentives so he can still earn the full amount.
The AJ Epenesa falling through appears to have worked wonders for their UDFA recruitment, rather than just chasing one they have managed to sign three promising UDFA edges. Based on guarantees the order is Logan Fano, Khordae Sydnor then Tyreak Sapp. The first two have enough guarantees to get them a practice squad spot on a roster or at least the pay of one of these players. I think they will aim to keep the competition open for as long as possible before looking at a free agent option on the market. My guess is Khordae Sydnor is heading to a practice squad, to try and work on his craft to make a push for a 53 man roster next year. Can Fano make the game day 48 and Sapp inactive? I will look at free agent options next week.