There are a couple times during the NFL offseason that teams like to get extensions completed with players they want to keep around. First, at the start of the league year in March. Second, when players arrive for voluntary OTAs. Third, right before the season starts.
While the Cleveland Browns haven’t always fallen in line with one of those three times (Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller extensions for example), the extension given to WR Nico Collins from the Houston Texans could lead to other deals getting done around the league.
While the NFLPA might want to eliminate spring activities, the NFL loves the 12-month coverage required of their league from deals like this:
While the details of the extension will be important, the annual value places Collins’ deal within the top 10 of all receivers, tied for seventh with DK Metcalf. For the Browns, veteran WR Amari Cooper is looking at all the deals signed recently and salivating as he approaches free agency at the end of the year.
Cooper leads our list of three Cleveland players who could get extensions done before the start of the season:
(CB Martin Emerson Jr. would be on the list but players on rookie contracts are not eligible to sign an extension until after the completion of their third season.)
WR Amari Cooper
Cooper is unlikely to cash in on a long-term deal of more than three years despite being the same age, and more productive, than WR Calvin Ridley. The mileage on the productive receiver’s legs (140 games, over 1,000 targets and 9,486 yards receiving) will likely tamp down the financial commitment from any team toward the soon-to-be 11-year veteran.
Still, an extension from Cleveland in the range of $24-25 million a year for two to three years could be a realistic compromise if both sides want to keep the relationship going.
LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
The most likely extension on the team is JOK. Drafted a round ahead of Collins, the second-round linebacker has been an undeniable steal for the Browns. Currently, only three linebackers make more than $15 million a year and two of them, Roquan Smith and Tremaine Edmunds, had to change teams to get that sort of deal.
Owusu-Koramoah’s agents could be looking at Fred Warner, considered by many the best linebacker in the NFL, as a relative comparison for the Notre Dame star. Warner’s $19 million a year is second among all linebackers.
CB Greg Newsome
A number of other players could take this final spot including OT Jedrick Wills, WR Elijah Moore and RB Nick Chubb but all three have much more to prove before being higher on the list. Newsome, for all his detractors, could benefit from Cleveland picking up his fifth-year option and the timing with Emerson not being eligible for an extension this offseason.
Newsome changed agencies last offseason and is now represented by NFL super agent Drew Rosenhaus. Unless the Browns come up with a big offer (top 8 CB contracts are for $19 million or more), it is likely that Rosenhaus will encourage his client to wait for free agency. Cleveland could use the threat of the franchise tag but that was valued at just under $19 million for cornerbacks last year.
Reminder: Annual salary and salary cap cost are not the same thing. Most contracts are structured with a ton of flexibility so the big numbers listed above are not cap hit numbers.
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