The Cleveland Browns entered this offseason with a severe salary cap spending deficit, needing to cut more than $30 million from their spending in 2025 to be compliant.
Cleveland has made several moves to do just that, including an important restructuring of Deshaun Watson’s contract to provide the franchise with wiggle room for this season.
The Browns have made another move that will help Cleveland’s situation, according to NFL insider Jeremy Fowler.
On Thursday, the Browns agreed to a revised deal with veteran offensive lineman Jack Conklin that provides additional incentives for the 30-year-old tackle.
“The deal removed a year – he’s now a 2026 free agent instead of 2027 – and pays him $10M with the opportunity to earn extra $2M in incentive,” Fowler said.
Veteran RT Jack Conklin and the #Browns have agreed to a revised contract that keeps him in Cleveland.
The deal removed a year – he’s now a 2026 free agent instead of 2027 — and pays him $10M with the opportunity to earn extra $2M in incentives, per agent @DrewJRosenhaus pic.twitter.com/RUiIwYX4Bo
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) March 13, 2025
Conklin’s original deal was a four-year contract worth $60 million.
His new deal will help the Browns manage their salary cap this year while also reducing the length of his contract.
The lineman returned last season from a gruesome 2023 injury he sustained in the season opener, and Conklin started 12 games for the Browns in 2024.
This year will mark Conklin’s sixth in a Browns jersey and his 10th overall in the NFL.
Conklin was a first-round pick by the Tennessee Titans in 2016, and he played 57 games with the franchise until 2019.
The 6-foot-6 lineman joined the Browns in 2020, but he’s missed significant playing time in two seasons since coming to Cleveland.
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