CLEVELAND — EDITOR'S NOTE: The above video is from a previous story.
All across the country, people are slowly coming around to this reality: You can work around the NFL's salary cap.
The Browns are certainly proving that. According to multiple reports, the team has worked some financial magic with one of its newest acquisitions, restructuring the contract of wide receiver Amari Cooper to potentially clear up space for more players.
Cleveland traded for the former Pro Bowler last week, taking on his three-year, $66-million contract in the process. However, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero says the two sides have agreed to convert the majority of Cooper's 2022 base salary into a signing bonus, meaning his pay will only count for $5 million against the cap.
It's a common move for teams looking to get around the salary constraints, hoping to back-load money to later years when the cap will hopefully go up. The Browns also added two "void years" to the end of Cooper's deal in order to legally space out the money.
The work-around is also being done with another big-name pickup. Cleveland is said to be giving new quarterback Deshaun Watson a five-year contract with $230 million guaranteed, but while the three-time Pro Bowler will make $46 million in cash this year, his base salary will be a mere $1 million with a signing bonus of $9 million, so the club will save a combined $51 million on his and Cooper's agreements combined.
Many have noted that Watson's lower base salary could cause him to lose less of a paycheck should he be suspended by the NFL, a real possibility considering Watson has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women. That fact has not been lost on critics of the trade made with the Houston Texans, but Pelissero claims this is merely "a side benefit of the structure."
With these changes, Spotrac projects the Browns are currently more than $20 million under the cap for 2022. How could they utilize that money? Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot reports the team is looking at bringing back some old faces, notably defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and receiver Jarvis Landry. The former is a free agent after his one-year deal with the team expired, while the latter was released last week due to his own $16-million salary at the time.