The Houston Texans will be one of several teams with one or two cap casualties as they try to free up more space for free agency. According to OverTheCap.com, the Texans are projected to have $4.9 million in cap space for free agency, which isn’t enough to re-sign their free agents or add to the roster.
Another one of those teams in the same spot as the Texans is the Cleveland Browns. The Browns are coming off a disastrous 2024 season and projected to be $24.3 million over the cap. Cleveland will have to restructure a few contracts and potentially let go of several players to get out of the negative.
Zac Jackson of The Athletic believes that one of the players Cleveland could get rid of to free up more cap space is former Texans defensive lineman Ogbo Okoronkwo.
"The Browns face a series of important salary cap-related decisions, and they could save $3 million by designating Okoronkwo as a post-June 1 cut ahead of his age-30 season. They also need to make difficult decisions on the future of veteran defensive tackles Dalvin Tomlinson and Shelby Harris — while also dealing with Myles Garrett’s trade request. It’s not been a fun few months for the Browns in just about any capacity. "Zac Jackson of The Athletic
The veteran EDGE just wrapped up his second year with the Browns, where he had 23 combined tackles, six quarterback hits, five tackles for loss, three sacks, and a forced fumble.
Those aren't bad stats for a rotational edge rusher. However, Okoronkwo will likely be the odd man out as the Browns try to find ways to create cap space.
The 29-year-old defensive lineman signed a sizable three-year, $19 million deal with the Browns in Mar. 2023 after spending the 2022 season in Houston.
In his lone season with the Texans, the 6-foot-2 defensive end had his best year as a pro. Okoronkwo racked up 44 combined tackles, 11 quarterback hits, nine tackles for loss, five sacks, and a forced fumble. The veteran lineman also had a career-high 17 quarterback pressures and made eight starts.
Okoronkwo hasn't been able to replicate that performance through his first two years with the Browns as a rotational pass rusher. However, if Cleveland were to cut Okoronkwo, he wouldn't be a bad pickup for a team looking for pass-rushing help this offseason.