Cleveland Browns

Cleveland carries $99.0M in dead money, third-most in the league, leaving just $15.6M in current cap room, but a projected $160.6M in space next offseason makes patience the most important roster move right now.

37 contracts expiring

Madden Tools Analysis

Five starting spots have weak depth behind the starter.

Cleveland holds 11 picks in the current draft cycle, including a first-rounder from the Rams, and 26 picks across three years with four first-rounders total, giving a roster in rebuild mode genuine runway to find answers at quarterback and the left edge.

• Acquired: Round 4 from Giants, this draft
• Acquired: Round 3 from Rams, the third draft
• Acquired: Round 2 from Rams, next draft
• Acquired: Round 1 from Rams, this draft
• Acquired: Round 4 from Seahawks, this draft
• Acquired: Round 7 from Texans, this draft
• Acquired: Round 5 from Texans, this draft
• Traded away: Round 7 to Rams, next draft
• Traded away: Round 6 to Texans, this draft

The roster's clear strength is its secondary and linebacker core anchored by Denzel Ward, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, and Carson Schwesinger, while the quarterback room is the most urgent weakness with all three options rated 69 or below.

• FBhigh

  Michael Burton is the only true fullback on the roster at 66 overall, ranking last among starters league-wide, making this the most glaring positional gap on the team.

• LEDGEhigh

  Alex Wright starts at 72 overall, ranking 31st among starters, and Benton Whitley is the only other dedicated LEDGE on the depth chart, leaving the left edge dangerously thin.

• QBhigh

  Deshaun Watson starts at just 69 overall, the lowest-rated starter in the league at the position, with Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel both at 69 and 67 respectively as the backups.

• WRhigh

  Jerry Jeudy leads the room at 81 overall but the depth drops sharply, with KC Concepcion Jr and Denzel Boston behind him ranking this unit 28th in starters and 30th in overall depth.

• DTlow

  Mason Graham starts at 80 overall but depth after Maliek Collins gets thin, ranking this group 22nd at the starter level.

• FSlow

  Ronnie Hickman starts at 76 overall, ranking 22nd among starters, though the depth chart behind him is reasonably filled with Emmanuel McNeil-Warren and Donovan McMillon.

• HBlow

  Quinshon Judkins leads the backfield at 82 overall but the group ranks 22nd at the starter level, and the depth behind him is underwhelming.

• LTlow

  Spencer Fano starts at 79 overall but is backed only by Dawand Jones at 68, ranking this unit 22nd among starters.

• 61Tre AveryCBTre Avery is a 61-overall backup corner at 29 who sits third on the depth chart behind Ward and Campbell, and releasing him frees $1.2M with zero dead money.Frees $1.2M · $0 dead
• 61Sam KamaraDTSam Kamara contributes nothing to a DT rotation that already carries Mason Graham, Maliek Collins, and Mike Hall Jr, and his release frees $1.2M with no dead-money consequence.Frees $1.2M · $0 dead
• 74Cedric TillmanWRCedric Tillman does not appear in the active top-three of the WR depth chart despite being 74 overall, and cutting him frees $3.6M against only $320K in dead money, making it the highest-value cap release on the list.Frees $3.6M · $320.0K dead
• 60Benton WhitleyLEDGEBenton Whitley is the third LEDGE on a paper-thin depth chart at just 60 overall, and releasing him recovers $1.1M with no dead money attached.Frees $1.1M · $0 dead
• 64D'Angelo RossCBD'Angelo Ross is a 64-overall corner outside the starting rotation at 29, and his release clears $1.2M with zero dead money.Frees $1.2M · $0 dead

Cleveland is a franchise at a genuine crossroads, built on a compelling defensive foundation but undermined at the most critical position on the field. Denzel Ward remains one of the best cornerbacks in the game, and Jared Verse is a long-term difference-maker off the right edge at 25. The linebacker corps with Carson Schwesinger and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is legitimate, and Mason Graham is a Superstar-trait interior lineman who could become one of the best at his position. The problem is everywhere else. The quarterback room is the worst in the league by starter rank, with Deshaun Watson starting at 69 overall entering the late stage of his career, and neither Shedeur Sanders nor Dillon Gabriel representing a clear upgrade right now. The $99.0M dead-cap figure, third-highest in the league, handcuffs spending this year, but the trajectory improves sharply: committed cap drops from $230.1M this season to $167.1M next year and $112.6M the year after, with a projected $160.6M in cap room next offseason. That future flexibility is the light at the end of the tunnel, and with 26 picks across the next three draft cycles including four first-rounders, Cleveland has the raw material to rebuild. The young core of Schwesinger, Quinshon Judkins, Harold Fannin Jr, and Graham gives this team something real to grow around, but the path to contention runs directly through solving the quarterback and pass-rusher shortfalls on both sides of the ball.

The Browns were founded in 1944 (organized in 1945) by taxicab magnate Arthur B. "Mickey" McBride as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), beginning play in 1946 in Cleveland. Named after their first coach, the innovative Paul Brown, they were instantly dominant: quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley, and tackle-kicker Lou Groza led Cleveland to all four AAFC championships (1946-1949), including a perfect 15-0 season in 1948. Paul Brown pioneered modern coaching methods and, by signing Motley and Bill Willis in 1946, helped reintegrate professional football a year before Jackie Robinson debuted in baseball. When the AAFC folded, the Browns joined the NFL in 1950 and immediately won the NFL Championship, reaching the title game in each of their first six NFL seasons (1950-1955) and winning in 1950, 1954, and 1955. In 1957 the Browns drafted Jim Brown, who led the NFL in rushing in eight of nine seasons and retired as the all-time rushing leader. Owner Art Modell bought the team in 1961 and controversially fired Paul Brown before 1963; under Blanton Collier, the Browns won their fourth and most recent NFL championship in 1964. After Jim Brown's 1966 retirement, the team declined but revived with the "Kardiac Kids" of 1979-80 behind MVP quarterback Brian Sipe and again with Bernie Kosar leading three AFC Championship Game appearances in the late 1980s. In 1995 Modell announced relocation to Baltimore; the settlement created the Baltimore Ravens as a new franchise in 1996 while the Browns' name, colors, and history stayed in Cleveland for a reactivated team that returned in 1999. Since then the franchise has been defined by instability and losing: just three playoff appearances (2002, 2020, 2023), one playoff win, a franchise-scarring 0-16 season in 2017, and a revolving door at quarterback.