Browns Free Agency: Exploring Impact of Cleveland's Salary Cap

The NFL offseason is where general managers make their money, and it can be similar to a game of Stratego. Every move teams make has ripple effects throughout the league, especially in free agency. The Cleveland Browns find themselves in a particularly advantageous position for the third straight offseason.

Depending on where you look, the Browns will have somewhere between $30-$40 million to play with in free agency. And everywhere you look, that puts them as one of the top-three teams in the league. If they are looking to spend, then they are in good shape.

According to former sports agent and current analyst for CBSSports.com Joel Corry, the Browns have cash to burn and a higher ceiling than most teams.

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Each team's actual salary cap (known as adjusted salary cap) is typically different from the NFL's set amount because unused cap room can be carried over from one year to the next year and other adjustments can further increase or decrease cap space.

For example, the Cleveland Browns have the highest adjusted salary cap this year at $157.42 million thanks in part to carrying over $24.54 million of unused cap room from 2013.

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That does not mean the Browns have the most money to spend; it simply means they have the highest amount they can spend up to. Got it? Don’t worry; just know general manager Ray Farmer will be a player in free agency again this year.

Last offseason, the Browns scored two prized free agents. Inside linebacker Karlos Dansby and safety Donte Whitner had vastly different impacts. Dansby was the heart and soul of the defense and nearly made the Pro Bowl. Whitner was decent, but the man he replaced, T.J. Ward, is once again headed to the Pro Bowl.

Free agency is a crapshoot, but when used efficiently, it can add impact players and send a team to the next level.

Browns Have Plenty of Options

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With such a high cap number, the Browns can do just about anything they want this offseason. They have a number of free agents hitting the market and will undoubtedly need to re-sign some of them.

Cornerback Buster Skrine will be a top priority but will cost a pretty penny. After totaling the fourth-most interceptions and passes defensed this past season, he should be in for a nice payday. The Browns also have to decide whether to bring back outside linebacker Jabaal Sheard. They could do both, but that is not likely.

Then you have inside linebacker Craig Robertson and free safety Tashaun Gipson, who are both unrestricted free agents. Farmer needs to seriously explore long-term deals with both of them.

The Browns could even give tight end Jordan Cameron another deal without it hurting their cap space much. If the Browns are to keep him around, though, it is more likely they will use a franchise tag on him. This will force him to prove he can stay healthy next season, and it will only cost them around $8.27 million, according to CBSSports.com’s Jason La Canfora.

I have a hard time seeing Cameron back in the orange and brown next season, however.

Enough Room to Make a Splash

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As they were last year, the Browns could be heavy hitters in free agency again this season. If any of the big names hit the open market, it would not be a surprise to see the Browns trading blows in a bidding war.

With players like Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas at wide receiver, defensive linemen Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy, linebacker Justin Houston and cornerback Devin McCourty all possibly heading to the open market, there could be some big names to be had. Most likely, only one or two of those guys will be available, and that is if the Browns are lucky.

The one guy they should be crossing their fingers and throwing pennies into wishing wells for is Suh. He is as dirty of a player as it gets on the field, but the production allows the team to look the other way.

The team also does not have to worry about how he will act when he gets paid, because he already had a season where he made $12.5 million, according to Spotrac.com. All he did that season was log 5.5 sacks, defend six passes, force a fumble and make the Pro Bowl.

Suh will command the highest defensive contract in the NFL, and he will be worth every penny. This would be especially true for the Browns, who desperately need an answer at nose tackle to fix the worst rushing defense in the NFL.

Freedom from Tags

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One of the nicest parts of the offseason for Farmer is that he has the money to place a franchise tag on a player if needed, but he does not have any free agents who necessarily warrant it. Let’s look at the possible candidates.

Skrine had another very productive year, but he is still a second, or possibly even third, corner on the Browns. It would be tough to justify a $12.96 million projected cap number for him next season. Remember that total is fully guaranteed, too.

Cameron is the only guy who could possibly get the tag slapped on him because the tight end number is not overwhelming, but his production does not warrant it, either. His injury history is especially alarming, and paying over $8 million in guaranteed money to a guy who has never played a full season is a huge gamble.

Then there is quarterback Brian Hoyer. If the Browns decided they absolutely wanted him back, the franchise tag might be the only way to make it happen. Hoyer wants to start, and even though Johnny Manziel was a bonehead his rookie year, it is tough to imagine the Browns not letting him have that spot next season.

Placing the tag on Hoyer would cost the Browns an estimated $18.38 million in guaranteed money next year. That would be for the worst quarterback in the league in completion percentage and the second-worst quarterback in the league in quarterback rating. There is absolutely no way that happens.

Most Important Places to Spend in Free Agency

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If you want to figure out how the Browns will spend their money this offseason, just look at the road map that Farmer made last year. His biggest acquisitions came right down the middle of the defense, and that will probably continue.

He gave four years and $24 million—with $10 million guaranteed in the first season—to Dansby to be his new inside linebacker. He also gave a reported $7 million per year to strong safety Donte Whitner.

Draw a line down the middle of the defense and then look at its biggest weakness. The next place the Browns should and will spend is nose tackle. They have a real problem stopping the run, and a big man with a nasty attitude just might do the trick.

On offense, the Browns will probably spend in a similar fashion, but this time, they just used a first-round pick on a quarterback, and there are no big-money guys who will be available in free agency. They also have a Pro Bowl center in the prime of his career. Where they need the help on offense is just off center at guard.

In this day and age, guards get paid big money. If the Browns spend on offense, it won't be for a big-name pass-catcher; it will be for a nasty blocker to help improve the 28th-worst yards-per-carry average in the NFL.