It’s not often that contract projections are so far off-the-mark for players hitting free agency in the NFL, but that’s what happened when the Cleveland Browns [signed OL **Teven Jenkins** last week](https://www.dawgsbynature.com/2025/3/20/24390549/browns-og-teven-jenkins-new-player-spotlight-joel-bitonio-wyatt-teller).
Pro Football Focus estimated that he could get $13 million per year, but instead, he settled for a 1-year, $3.05 million deal with the Browns. Jenkins was a second-round pick at No. 39 overall in 2021 by the Chicago Bears. When he’s played, he’s been really good, and was one of the better-performing guards in the league last year. With **Joel Bitonio** having contemplated retirement this past offseason and **Wyatt Teller** occasionally having the injury bug, it’s a great depth addition for Cleveland. However, the fact that Jenkins’ deal was so low, even for the standards of a quality backup, means that there has to be some league-wide concerns about his health.
Still, in the past three years, he’s started 11, 11, and 14 games. Yes, it’s not ideal that he missed action and had a variety of injuries, but it seems like a worthwhile gamble for **Andrew Berry** and company, and reminds me to a degree of how Berry likes to take fliers on guys with injury track records — I’m thinking about the **Maurice Hurst’s** and **Nyheim Hines** of the world. Some of those pan out, while others don’t.
Let’s look at how Jenkins’ deal is structured:
Year
Base Salary
Signing Bonus
Roster Bonus
Workout Bonus
Incentive
Total Cap Hit
Year
Base Salary
Signing Bonus
Roster Bonus
Workout Bonus
Incentive
Total Cap Hit
2025
$1,170,000
$300,000
$280,000
$40,000
$500,000
$2,290,000
2026
Void
$300,000
$0
$0
$0
$1,200,000
2027
Void
$300,000
$0
$0
$0
$0
2028
Void
$300,000
$0
$0
$0
$0
2029
Void
$300,000
$0
$0
$0
$0
Total
$1,170,000
$1,500,000
$280,000
$40,000
$500,000
$3,490,000
* The deal was reported as being 1-year for $3.05 million. For salary cap purposes, though, it totals $3.49 million. How do we get there?
* The base salary is $1.17 million, which is fully guaranteed. His signing bonus is $1.5 million, which is spread out over five years (his contract will void at the start of the 2026 season, which would then incur a $1.2 million dead cap hit next year). Only $300,000 counts against the cap for his signing bonus in 2025.
* Jenkins has a $20,000 per game roster bonus. Since he played 14 games last year, only $280,000 of that roster bonus counts against the cap now. If he plays every game, it could be worth $340,000.
* There is a workout bonus of $40,000, presumably for offseason programs.
* The last piece is playing time incentives. The tiers are $500,000 if he plays 50% of the snaps, $1 million for 70%, and $1.5 million for 80%. Last year, he played in 65% of the snaps, which means his likely to be earned incentive is $500,000, which counts toward the cap.
* The $3.05 reports don’t include the $500,000 incentive, but it includes the full $340,000 roster bonus ($1.17 million + $1.5 million + $340,000 + 40,000 = $3.05 million).