#HeyTony: What is Andrew Berry planning to do with all that new salary cap room?
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Hey Tony: Is there a move they’re looking to make with all these reconstructed contracts?
-- Cody, Akron, OH
Hey Cody: By restructuring the contracts of Joel Bitonio and Myles Garrett in recent days, the Browns have created about $21 million in cap space to increase their overall 2023 salary cap space to a league-leading $33 million+. Those players are not taking pay cuts. They are converting base salary to up-front cash + minimum base salary to lower their cap numbers. A team needs a billionaire owner willing to pay the cash now rather than in salary installments to create cap space this way. Not all owners would do that. Eventually, the Browns will pay the piper, but by then the Haslams and everyone believes the Browns will have appeared in a Super Bowl. Now, what do they do with the room? Most will be rolled over to 2024. GM Andrew Berry is getting a jumpstart on his 2024 cap issues created mostly by the gargantuan contract owed Deshaun Watson. However, restructuring both Bitonio and Garrett at this time suggests to me that Berry wants the cap flexibility to add a veteran player, or two, before the season starts.
Hey Tony: Would the Browns consider putting Cade York on the practice squad to work with him this year and have a veteran come in for one season to kick?
-- Joe, Akron, OH
Hey Joe: I believe this is the preferred solution to this unexpected kicking crisis. I would not “kick aside” York. I would seek to retain him on the practice squad while a veteran – no, not any veteran, Robbie Gould – takes over the kicking for now. Gould could act as a kicking coach in his spare time and groom York for future heroics. Phil Dawson always told me every NFL team should employ a kicking coach. I’d pay Gould whatever he seeks to double in that role in 2023.
My solution to the Browns' kicking crisis is signing Robbie Gould and moving Cade York to the practice squad. Gould could serve to coach him out of his funk.
Hey Tony: I agree with Stefanski giving York time. No kicker will be perfect. We aren’t finding Justin Tucker. My question is has anyone done any analytics on our holder? York’s ball is coming off his foot strange. He is kicking knuckleballs.
-- Sam, Lorain, OH
Hey Sam: I’ve never seen a ball move so much as York’s have recently. Yet, they don’t seem to do that in practice. So I think if there were a problem with the holds, it would affect his kicks in practice and would have been dealt with. Also, by now, if York thought the holds were unsatisfactory, he would have complained internally to special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone.
Hey Tony: Have the Browns found a sports psychiatrist to work with Cade York?
-- Todd, Wooster, OH
Hey Todd: The Browns don’t list a team psychiatrist on their club directory, but I believe they have one available as a resource for players.
Hey Tony: In the final preseason game vs KC what will you be looking for from Deshaun Watson that will show you he will be a top 10 QB this year or is it a wait and see approach until a few games into the season for you to determine?
-- Mike, Parma, OH
Hey Mike: Honestly, nothing Watson does in a final preseason game should affect anyone’s expectations for him. “Winning QB” should be the expectation, not “Top 10 QB.” Justin Herbert, for example, is a top 10 QB. But does he win enough to put the Chargers in the AFC elite?
Hey Tony: Who do think makes the 53 as far as WRs?
-- Jess, San Francisco, CA
Hey Jess: Amari Cooper, Elijah Moore, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and Cedric Tillman are etched in granite. After that, my WR5 would be Austin Watkins and WR6 would be Jakeem Grant (if he passes a final test in Kansas City). I am sure the Browns have 2022 third-round draft pick David Bell in the mix, which makes the probable final WR spot a decision on Watkins v. Grant. Again, a player’s draft status is so important and either benefits or haunts him his whole career.
Hey Tony: Would the Browns be smart to employ a hurry-up offense with Watson to change pace when the offense sputters? Also, why not use preseason games to practice 2-minute offense with starters given all of the close games in the NFL?
-- Alan, East Amherst, NY
Hey Alan: Yes, I expect the Browns to change tempo of games frequently with the no-huddle. As to the 2-minute offense, it has been one of Kevin Stefanski’s greatest failings as Browns coach through three years. Their 2-minute offense has been below standard, if not amateurish, most of the time. I don’t understand why they don’t exercise it more – at practice and in practice games.
Hey Tony: I'm not confident in [Jedrick] Wills at left tackle. I know he's the starter but do you see him as the starter by year’s end? Thanks.
-- Rich, Willoughby, OH
Hey Rich: This spring, the Browns picked up the fifth-year option of Wills for a guaranteed $14.175 million. That is irrevocable. He will be the starter if he is healthy this year and he will be the starter next year.
Hey Tony: Considering the inconsistencies of the tackle position(s) and Jones’ development, were you surprised to see him at LT yesterday?
-- Jake, Greenfield, OH
Hey Jake: I think it’s a little risky to go into a season with no backup who has taken regular-season reps at left tackle. James Hudson has not played a down at left tackle in two previous seasons and obviously Dawand Jones has not either. Line coach Bill Callahan said that when you draft players, they have to play [ahead of non-drafted players]. Obviously, the Browns are not adding a veteran tackle to serve as insurance at left tackle. So the Browns have to decide which player might be the better option at left tackle in a pinch, Hudson or Jones.
Hey Tony: What are the odds of Stefanski making it the entire season before getting canned?
-- Tom, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Hey Tom: I think the odds are real good of Stefanski seeing the fifth year of his contract in 2024. But ask me again in October.
