Dawgs By Nature
Despite the 1-3 start, the story of the Cleveland Browns season has not been written yet. The team obviously believes they have a chance to still win games, as shown with the trade to acquire OT Cam Robinson on the Monday following a big loss to the Detroit Lions. The hope is that Robinson can help stabilize the left tackle position and that Jack Conklin can come back healthy at right tackle.
With the AFC North having just one team with a winning record, Cleveland’s chances might be higher than most would assume at 1-3.
As always, since the Deshaun Watson trade and contract, dollars and cents, along with salary cap space, are vital parts of Browns roster decisions. With the Robinson trade, Cleveland inherits the one-year, $12 million contract the Houston Texans signed the left tackle to this offseason. What is interesting about that contract is how it was paid out:
With a majority of the contract already paid out, the Browns will not be on the hook for much of that $12 million:
Spotrac says that Cleveland owes the following for Robinson this season:
Combined, a total of just over $3 million is to be paid out and against the salary cap for a player that the Browns hope will solidify the left tackle position. For this season, Cleveland was in the top 10 with over $15 million in salary cap space. The team will need as much of that space as possible to rollover into next year’s salary cap, but valued Robinson enough to spend $3 million of what could have been rolled over.
