![](https://i0.wp.com/sportapps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/browns-texans-football.png?fit=770%2C433&ssl=1)
Browns decided to Pick Up Option on $113 Million DB, Former 1st-Rounder to maintain the roster
The Cleveland Browns don’t just need to worry about adding talent this offseason, they also need to figure out how to keep all the quality players already on the roster.
One such player is former first-round pick Greg Newsome II. The cornerback will play on the fourth and final year of his $13 million rookie contract in 2024. However, the Browns can exercise his fifth-year option, which would keep Newsome locked in through 2025.
Over The Cap projects that decision will cost the Browns $12.17 million for the 2025 campaign alone. That isn’t a massive number as far as NFL salaries go, but it is more strenuous for Cleveland given the team’s salary cap situation over the next several years.
Jacob Roach of USA Today’s Browns Wire predicted that the team will exercise that option, despite its failure to represent an ideal financial situation.
“When talking about picking up his fifth-year option, you have to ask yourself if you want to extend him long-term. … Newsome isn’t an awful player, but he isn’t a player you want to pay more than $10 million per year,” Roach wrote on Monday, February 5. “In the end, the Browns will pick up his fifth-year option because you can never have enough corners, and he is still a good player even if he has not hit his highest level.”