Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry got a clearer picture of what his team’s salary cap situation will look like in 2025.
As Cleveland Browns vice president of football operations Andrew Berry begins planning out his offseason moves, he received some positive news regarding the league’s salary cap in 2025.
Per a memo sent to all 32 teams, which was shared by the NFL Network’s Dan Graziano, the salary cap is expected to land somewhere between $277.5 million and $281.5 million for the upcoming season. An official number is expected to be announced over the course of the next week, according to the memo.
Overall, it’s more than a $20 million jump from the 2024 cap number, which was officially $255.4 million.
Factoring in Cleveland’s rollover cap – determined by the amount of unused cap space from the previous year – the team’s official cap figure for 2025 will be upwards of $320 million, should the league’s official number come in on the higher end of that estimate.
Under the rule of 51, which allows teams to only count the top 51 contracts against the cap during the offseason, the Browns will have used slightly over $300 million in cap space.
That’s before factoring in the team’s dead money numbers though, which are slated to be around $40 million. With that added in, it will leave the Browns over their salary cap number by more than $20 million.
It’s nothing new for Berry to have his roster exceed salary cap projections this time of year. In the coming weeks, he’ll be expected to manipulate some of the team’s more expensive contracts to create some necessary financial flexibility ahead of free agency.
Under the rule of 51, which allows teams to only count the top 51 contracts against the cap during the offseason, the Browns will have used slightly over $300 million in cap space.
That’s before factoring in the team’s dead money numbers though, which are slated to be around $40 million. With that added in, it will leave the Browns over their salary cap number by more than $20 million.
It’s nothing new for Berry to have his roster exceed salary cap projections this time of year. In the coming weeks, he’ll be expected to manipulate some of the team’s more expensive contracts to create some necessary financial flexibility ahead of free agency.
Often times that’s accomplished by Berry adding void years onto multiple player’s contracts, and pushing money into those dummy years to spread it out over a longer period of time.
Berry will likely start with Deshaun Watson’s contract, which is set to count for more than $72 million on next year’s cap. That’s more than 25% of the entire cap.
How Berry navigates the team’s salary cap situation will set the stage for just how active the Browns will be this offseason and just how competitive the team will be in 2025.
