Former Oklahoma star could quietly be on Browns' chopping block

The Browns are near the bottom of the league in cap space, just $16,860,537 away from being over the cap. Once factoring in all the rookie deals, the Browns are projected to have just under $7 million in total cap space heading into the season.

To give themselves more wiggle room during the course of the season, the Browns could look at numerous vets on multi-year deals who are at positions with depth as cut candidates for relief. Earlier this offseason, the Browns used their two post-June 1st designations on safety Juan Thornhill and defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson to spread the dead cap hit over two seasons. Cleveland would now likely wait until after June 1st to make any more moves for salary cap purposes.

Of the remaining vets, Ethan Pocic, Wyatt Teller, Ogbo Okoronkwo, Alex Wright, and Jordan Hicks provide the largets potential cap savings. Pocic and Teller seem vital in the shift back to a run-heavy offense, while Hicks will be essential for the second-level of the defense with Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah out for the year.

Ogbo Okoronkwo could quietly be on Browns' chopping block

Both Okoronkwo and Wright are heading into their final years under contract at a position with solid depth. With Wright showing flashes before the tricep injury and the fact that he's five years younger, Okoronkwo makes more sense to let go if they need more cap space.

Okoronkwo signed a three-year, $19 million deal with the Browns prior to the 2023 season after spending three years with the Rams and one with Houston as a fifth-round pick out of Oklahoma. He provided solid depth in 2023, grading among the top half of edge rushers and playing behind Myles Garrett and Za'Darius Smith. 2024 was a different story, however, as he finished as the 192nd-best edge rusher out of 211 with an overall grade of 45.3

By releasing Okoronkwo after June 1st, the Browns would take on $1.95 million in dead cap, resulting in $3.366 million in cap savings in 2025 since he's due to carry a cap number of $5.316 million. While the Browns aren't too strapped for cap space at the moment, as the roster is mostly filled out, Okoronkwo could be an avenue to create a little more flexibility if the need arises.

At edge rusher, the Browns will already have third-year breakout player Isaiah McGuire behind Garrett, along with Wright returning from his triceps injury. They also signed former first-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Julian Okwara in free agency, giving themselves plenty of other options at edge rusher should they move on from Okoronkwo.