The Cleveland Browns are coming off of a pretty surprising 2023 campaign in which they won 11 games and made the playoffs in spite of having a revolving door at quarterback, which put even more pressure on the Browns to have a productive 2024 NFL offseason.
Of course, Deshaun Watson was expected to be Cleveland's signal-caller for the entirety of last season, but a shoulder injury forced him out of action after just six games. The Browns tried numerous quarterbacks before finally landing on Joe Flacco, who ended up taking Cleveland to the playoffs.
Well, Flacco has now departed, as the Browns are putting their eggs in Watson's basket heading into 2024 (based on his $230 million guaranteed contract, they pretty much have to). They did sign Jameis Winston as insurance, but let's be honest: it's Watson or bust in Believeland.
The Browns play in the rugged AFC North division, so replicating their success from last season won't be easy. Cleveland didn't really do a whole lot in free agency, but it did manage to retain some of its own players, such as edge rusher Za'Darius Smith.
But the Browns did make one pretty significant move: they swung a trade with the Denver Broncos for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy and proceeded to hand him a three-year, $58 million contract extension. Not surprisingly, the decision was met with some raised eyebrows.
Why paying Jerry Jeudy is a risky move for the Browns
Make no mistake: the Browns absolutely needed depth at wide receiver. Prior to adding Jeudy, they had Amari Cooper, Elijah Moore and not much else, and if we are being forthright, Moore is probably just a very good No. 3 receiver.
So, it's hard to fault general manager Andrew Berry for addressing an obvious need.
But did the Browns really need to hand the largely unproven Jeudy nearly $20 million annually?
Jeudy, who played his collegiate football at the University of Alabama, was selected by the Broncos with the 15th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. He was expected to step in alongside of Courtland Sutton and provide Denver with a rather lethal receiving duo, but that did not happen.
In four seasons with the Broncos, Jeudy failed to register a single 1,000-yard campaign. The closest he came was 2022, when he finished with 972 yards. Now, to be fair, Jeudy missed a couple of games that season, so he may very well have hit 1,000 yards had he remained healthy. Still, he had three other seasons to achieve that mark, and he didn't do it.
As a matter of fact, in 2023, Jeudy actually took a rather significant step back, catching 54 passes for 758 yards and a couple of touchdowns. That came over 16 contests, and while Russell Wilson was not exactly his former Seattle Seahawks self last season, he certainly wasn't terrible. So Jeudy doesn't have the excuse of poor quarterback play.
Let's call a spade a spade: Jeudy has been a disappointment thus far. The expectation was that he would be a No. 1 receiver coming out of college, but through the first four years of his career, it's debatable as to whether or not he is even a good No. 2.
The Browns were able to land the 25-year-old for a fifth-round pick and a sixth-rounder, so in terms of trade capital, Cleveland did not surrender much. But that isn't the issue.
Again, no one should have a problem with the Browns adding Jeudy in a vacuum. They needed another receiver, and they got one. They didn't need a No. 1 because they already have Cooper. They just needed another guy alongside of Moore as an auxiliary option, and Jeudy can certainly fill that role.
It's the contract that has a whole lot of people scratching their heads.
For comparison's sake, the Browns will be paying Cooper $20 million in base salary in 2024. That's only a hair more than they will be paying Jeudy, and Cooper is obviously a far superior wide out.
On one hand, Cleveland now has given Watson some fine weapons at his disposal. Cooper, Jeudy and Moore comprise a nice trio of receivers, and David Njoku has developed into one of the best tight ends in football. But the Browns probably could have paid Jeudy quite a bit less while still trading for him. We'll see how this affects Cleveland's cap situation moving forward.
Remember: Cooper himself is entering the final year of his deal.
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