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At the end of last season, the Cleveland Browns reached a contract extension with RT Jack Conklin. The quick hitter version of the details were reporting that it was a 4-year extension with $60 million, with $31 million fully guaranteed. Just like we broke down the year-by-year details of the contract for every Browns free agent signing and trade acquisition in 2023, though, let’s take a similar look at how Conklin’s deal is broken down.
Even though it was a contract extension for Conklin, he would have been a free agent after the season. However, he would have had two void years in 2023 and 2024, with a $3 million bonus in each year that would’ve accelerated to a $6 million dead cap hit in 2023 if he had not re-signed with the club. Now, those amounts appear to be staying in their respective years. When differentiating the old money ($6 million) vs. new money ($60 million), that is the differentiation to make, as well as the fact that because the extension happened during the 2022 season, the Browns allocated $600,000 of Conklin’s $3 million signing bonus (spread over five years) against the 2022 cap.
RT Jack Conklin Cap Hits, Year by Year
| Year | Base Salary | Old Bonus | Signing Bonus | Option Bonus | Roster Bonus | Total Cap Hit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Base Salary | Old Bonus | Signing Bonus | Option Bonus | Roster Bonus | Total Cap Hit |
| 2022 | N/A | N/A | $600,000 | N/A | N/A | $600,000 |
| 2023 | $1,165,000 | $3,000,000 | $600,000 | $2,197,000 | $1,000,000 | $7,962,000 |
| 2024 | $4,500,000 | $3,000,000 | $600,000 | $3,867,000 | $1,000,000 | $12,967,000 |
| 2025 | $14,000,000 | $0 | $600,000 | $3,867,000 | $1,000,000 | $19,467,000 |
| 2026 | $14,000,000 | $0 | $600,000 | $3,867,000 | $1,000,000 | $19,467,000 |
| 2027 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $3,867,000 | $0 | $3,867,000 |
| 2028 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,670,000 | $0 | $1,670,000 |
| Total | $33,665,000 | $6,000,000 | $3,000,000 | $19,335,000 | $4,000,000 | $66,000,000 |
- I have broken this table down a little different than my other examples in an attempt to show the new $60 million amount.
- Remember what I said before the table, then: $6 million (see old bonus column) comes from his previous contract. If you take that away, that’s where you get your $60 million extension. Now that we have the background noise of the old deal out of the way, let’s talk about the extension details.
- Conklin has a per-game roster bonus of $58,823 for 2023-2027. However, per Over the Cap, the 2023 and 2024 roster bonuses became fully guaranteed already, so it appears as though he’s already banked $2 million of that for the first two years.
- He has an option bonus of $10.985 million for 2023, and an option bonus of $8.35 million in 2024. Each of those gets broken down into five year periods, which is why you have two void years in 2027 and 2028.
- His 2023 base salary ($1.165 million), 2024 base salary ($4.5 million), option bonuses from 2023 and 2024, and $3.25 million of his 2025 base salary are fully guaranteed, in addition to the aforementioned $2 million in roster bonuses that are now guaranteed, summing to the $30+ million in guaranteed money under the new deal.
- In terms of when you can cut Conklin if necessary, it’s really not a sensible option until the last year of his deal, 2026, when he would have a $10 million cap hit. And even then, you’d hope his skills haven’t diminished so much that you’re looking to get rid of him.
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