The Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns agreed to a deal on Saturday that will send wide receiver Jerry Jeudy to Cleveland in exchange for two draft picks, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.
The Browns are receiving a fifth-round and a sixth-round pick in return for Jeudy, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The trade cannot be officially processed until next week, the start of the new league year. How much does the Browns’ new wide receiver make?
Jerry Jeudy’s Contract Details and Salary Cap Impact
Denver has been creating significant salary space ever since releasing Russell Wilson last week. Cutting the quarterback will result in an $85 million dead-money hit for the Broncos, which is part of the reason Denver released veteran safety Justin Simmons, restructured deals with offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey and wide receiver Tim Patrick, cut tight end Chris Manhertz, and agreed to trade Jeudy.
With the Jeudy trade, Denver creates $12,987,000 in additional salary cap space while also acquiring more draft capital for April.
Jeudy is heading into the final season of his rookie contract after being drafted by Denver 15th overall in 2020 and will play the 2024 season under the deal’s fifth-year option. He’s set to make $12.99 million in 2024.
The Browns entered the weekend with around $17 million in available cap space, per OverTheCap.com. But they can create more than $30 million more if they restructure QB Deshaun Watson’s contract and lower his current cap number of $63.9 million.
Over the last two weeks, Browns general manager Andrew Berry had restructured the contracts of top CB Denzel Ward and, just yesterday, left tackle Jedrick Wills to get back underneath the $255 million salary cap by about $12 million. With the addition of Jeudy’s contract, more restructures could be on the way in the coming days for the Browns.
Jeudy had 54 catches for 758 yards and two touchdowns last season. In 57 games in Denver, including 44 starts, he recorded 211 receptions for 3,053 yards and 11 touchdowns. His best season came in 2022 when he had career highs across the board with 67 catches for 972 yards and six TDs in 15 games.
Jeudy turns 25 next month and is entering the final year of his rookie contract. Cleveland was looking for a much-needed dynamic weapon at wide receiver while the Broncos continue to stockpile draft picks in hopes of rebuilding their roster.
Jeudy will pair with Amari Cooper, whom the Browns traded for two seasons ago ahead of the start of free agency and who turns 30 years old over the summer.
Cleveland had been linked to Jeudy previously, both last offseason and at the trade deadline in November, but a deal never materialized for the Alabama product.
With the Broncos now amid a transitional period under head coach Sean Payton, the interest remained from Berry, and they made a deal less than a year later.
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This marks the third consecutive year the Browns have acquired a wide receiver via trade with Cooper and Elijah Moore coming to Cleveland in subsequent offseasons. Moore likely will be pushed aside as the No. 3 target with the acquisition of Jeudy.
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