DONE DEAL: Browns has finally agreed on signing a star worth $100 million due to …..

GM Andrew Berry and the Browns may look back on one deal in particular as they try to manage a hefty salary cap cost as the team begins an offseason of unavoidable upheaval.

One of the main issues confronting Browns general manager and vice president of football operations Andrew Berry this summer will be navigating an increasing salary cap burden.

The unfortunate aspect of creating a playoff squad is that it gets harder and harder to hold onto every player, sometimes even starting lineup staples. Nowadays, there are a variety of sophisticated cap approaches a club can deploy to lengthen a Super Bowl window, but such plans aren’t a simple copy and paste for every deal. Every agreement with a player is distinct from the others, and some may be manipulated more easily than others to save money on caps.

Berry will have to go over those specifics. And there’s a deal he’s probably going to find out he regrets as he spends the upcoming weeks searching for ways to balance Cleveland’s book.

The veteran right tackle Jack Conklin was rewarded by the Browns in December 2022 with a four-year, $60 million contract deal after the former Titan appeared in 14 games despite suffering a knee injury that ended his season. Even yet, the injuries from a year earlier ought to have raised suspicions.

The sudden appearance of youngster Dawand Jones, who would be Conklin’s replacement for the rest of the season, further muddled the choice. On the one hand, Jones was a fifth-round choice, so nobody really anticipated his rapid rise to prominence. However, it was quite clear from the start that he could hold his own as one of the offensive line’s bookends after replacing Conklin in Week 1. Regretfully, Jones suffered a knee injury just before Week 15, which ended his season. The difference is that, coming into next season, Jones is a lot more cheap and younger player.