Jordan Elliott seemingly guarantees his roster spot

Roster decisions are still months away but, based on reports, two Cleveland Browns players have already, seemingly, guaranteed their 53-man roster spots for 2023.

While all decisions are made based on what players give the team the best chance to win in 2023 and beyond, following the money is a way to understand what the team thinks about a player. For example, the Browns renegotiated WR/KR Jakeem Grant’s contract this offseason, which lowered his salary and gave him no guaranteed money.

Yesterday, we had a report that TE Harrison Bryant had renegotiated his contract, dropping his total, like Grant, but getting some money guaranteed.

Looking at the guaranteed money, Bryant is likely to make Cleveland’s 53-man roster while Grant will have a fight to do so.

Following up on their report on Bryant, The OBR is also reporting that DT Jordan Elliott has agreed to a similar new contract with the Browns:

His base salary is taken down to the league minimum. He then got a signing bonus of $490,000. Then he has some incentives based on how many games he plays which can be a maximum of $200,000.

In his deal, the base salary and signing bonus is fully guaranteed which means he went from nothing guaranteed to $1.5m guaranteed.

Jack Duffin, the author of the above piece, is the best Browns-based salary cap guru. He does a great job describing all of the details of both the Bryant and Elliott contracts.

With both Bryant and Elliott locked into guaranteed money, it creates even more competition for the team’s 53-man roster. Neither was projected to make the team in our last projection.

With all the moves GM Andrew Berry made this offseason, it will be interesting to see what the makeup of the team is to start the season. Obviously, injuries often play a major role but the current 90-man roster boasts more than 53 players worthy of making the team.

Are you surprised the Browns basically guaranteed Elliott a roster spot?