3 Cleveland Browns Who Could Be Released This Offseason

Vice president of football operations and general manager Andrew Berry has some tough decisions on his hands this offseason as he hopes to build the Cleveland Browns back into a contender on the fly.

That won't be easy, particularly with the albatross that is Deshaun Watson's contract handcuffing the organization for years to come. Berry will have to get creative to work around it, and other dicey financial obligations.

As the offseason commences, here are three players that Berry is likely to consider releasing in an effort to capture some cap relief.

A split between the Browns and Thornhill seems inevitable this offseason. From his questionable effort at times, to his inconsistent play, his two years in Cleveland have been disappointing to say the least. Unfortunately, moving on from Thornhill comes at a cost, in the form of a $12.4 million dead cap hit once he's released.

If Cleveland were to make him a June first release it would at least break up the payments to about $3.1million and $9.2 million respectively. It also wouldn't see the $2.5 million in cap relief until after June 1, which doesn't help them much in terms of building the roster in the months ahead. Eating over $12 million the next two years is a tough pill to swallow but moving on from Thornhill seems imminent for the Browns.

Myles Garrett may have made his case to bring many of his defensive teammates back in 2025, but as Berry looks to get creative, parting ways with Harris could provide help those efforts. Releasing Harris before June 1 only provides $954 thousand in relief to the salary cap, while having to eat $2.2 million. If he, like Thornhill, was designated as a post June 1 release though, Cleveland saves $2.6 million in space, and only has to pay a modest $556 thousand in dead money this year. It's not a ton of cap room, but every bit counts for the financially handcuffed Browns.

Creating another hole to fill on the offensive line may not be the wisest move for the Browns, but if they're looking for a way to creating a solid amount of cap space quickly this offseason there's a path to do it with Pocic. Essentially, Cleveland would have to release their starting center and designate him as a post June 1 cut. While Pocic comes with a dead cap hit of $6.1 million, designating him as a post June 1 release would allow them to spread that money out over the next two years. That would leave them on the hook for just $1.7 in dead money, while creating over $5 million in cap space for 2025.

The negative here is that the Browns would then have to eat a $4.3 million dead cap figure in 2026, but given Berry's propensity to delay payments into the future when the salary cap goes up, that's not a back breaking number.