Browns preparing for massive roster turnover in 2024 | Jeff Schudel's The Cleveland Beat
Jan. 27—Shut your eyes and try to conjure a mental team picture of the 2023 playoff Browns for one last time, because the 2024 Browns are going to look vastly different.
Twenty-two players on the team that finished 11-6 will be unrestricted free agents when the new league year begins in mid-March unless contract extensions are signed before then.
"I want to bring all of our good players back, but there are constraints to that," General Manager Andrew Berry said Jan. 22, referring specifically to quarterback Joe Flacco.
Here is the complete list of players headed to free agency dividing the list into offensive and defensive players:
Offense: Flacco, wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, running back Kareem Hunt, left tackle Geron Christian, guard Michael Dunn, tight end Harrison Bryant, center/fullback Nick Harris and wide receiver James Proche.
Defense: Defensive end Za'Darius Smith, defensive tackle Shelby Harris, defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, linebacker Sione Takitaki, linebacker Anthony Walker, safety Rodney McLeod, cornerback Mike Ford, linebacker Justin Kunaszyk, defensive tackle Jordan Elliott, cornerback Duron Harmon, linebacker Matthew Adams and linebacker Jacob Phillips
Special teams: Punter Corey Bojorquez, return specialist Jakeem Grant
Not all 22 players were on the 53-man roster at the end of the season. Phillips (pectoral) and Grant (patellar tendon) missed the entire season on injured reserve. Hurst missed the last four games with a pec injury. Walker missed the last five with a knee injury.
Berry annually signs players to one-year contracts. He replaces them with different players on one-year contracts more often than he re-signs them. Walker is the exception to that because he is such a team leader. Walker has been on three one-year contracts with the Browns, though that might not happen in 2024. Walker missed 14 games in 2022 and five in 2023 because of injuries. As coaches are fond of saying — certainly not singling out Walker — the best ability is availability.
The cold fact is most players are replaceable. Re-signing Flacco and Hunt might be priorities among the offensive free agents, but only if the price is right for the Browns. Smith, Takitaki and Hurst might be priorities on defense. Phillips would be in that group, but injuries have limited him to 20 of a possible 66 games in four seasons.
"It's not like you just pick up and Week 1 next year is like the 19th game," Berry said. "Even for the top teams that have a lot of their guys under contract, typically, on average, a third of your team turns over, and that's regardless of your record. And it could be more depending on the health of your roster. I mean, more like long-term health as opposed to physical health."
The 2023 Browns team was special because the players truly were like family. That doesn't mean it can't happen again in 2024, but cultivating that camaraderie is as important as game planning. The decision to hold the first week of training camp in Greenbriar, W.Va., was immeasurably important in fostering team-bonding.
"Every year is different," Coach Kevin Stefanski said. "The players are always different, and that's the NFL. So you treat each year differently. I would tell you the core of this football team, the guys that we know are coming back, are guys that represent who we are, that understand what they need to do on a day-to-day basis to be great.
"So we're excited about that. But the bottom line is, when you're talking about the locker room, it's the people. It's just the people in that locker room. And I feel strongly about the people."
Berry has to make decisions on at least a couple players that are still under contract. Wide receiver Amari Cooper has a salary cap hit of nearly $24 million in 2024. Deshaun Watson's cap hit is an astounding $63,977,000. Running back Nick Chubb has a non-guaranteed salary of $11,775,000.
Chubb suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second game of 2023. Berry said he wants Chubb to continue playing for the Browns, but Chubb will have to agree to a restructured contract to make that happen.
—The Browns, based on the final 2023 regular season standings, have the most challenging slate of games in all the NFL in 2024.
The Browns will host the Ravens, Bengals, Steelers, Chargers, Chiefs, Cowboys, Giants and Dolphins next season. They will visit the Ravens, Bengals, Steelers, Eagles, Commanders, Broncos, Raiders, Jaguars and Saints.
The combined 2023 winning percentage of the Browns' 2024 opponents is .547. The Ravens' have the second most difficult schedule at .536 followed by the Steelers at .533.
The schedule will be released in May.
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