There is a balancing point for spending and long term stability, the Cleveland Browns are investing about 120% of the salary cap each year as cash into their 53 man roster. They have practice squad players to pay and in season moves that will increase these costs. On the other hand they have the previously discussed insurances that will mean there is more money available to spend.
The salary cap isn’t going to jump 20% every year to cover their spending in a twelve month window. They are working roughly two years out in advance so as the salary keeps rising they will keep spending more as a percentage of the salary cap.
So, this year the Browns are probably looking to spend the 2027 salary cap in terms of cash spending on the 53, practice squad, injured reserve, and everything else. Then once we get to 2026 they will probably look to spend the projected 2028 salary cap number.
The only thing that could stop the Browns is another dramatic drop in the salary cap as we saw during the pandemic. The Saints are the perfect example of what can go wrong with a black swan event. Their contract structure destroyed their salary cap, they needed to take a two year reset and go again, instead they have tried to limp along and it has cost them with a very poor roster over the last few years. Even hitting on a rookie quarterback won't truly fix them.
Unless you get hit with a once in a generation crisis, it is a really smart model to allow you to outspend all of your competitors and put together a more expensive roster than anyone else. It is a balancing act though, the reason I see them being around 120% rather than pushing this out to say 130% is to avoid too much potential for it to blow up in their faces if you are relying on spending the salary cap three years in advance, anything could happen with TV deals etc.