Over the weekend, the NFLPA passed a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with a vote tally of 1,019 to 959 (51.5% approval vote for the new agreement). There aren’t a lot of changes that immediately impact the Cleveland Browns, but here is a quick overview of the bigger changes.
New Cap Space Available – $61,807,140
The new total cap space available for every team is $198.2 million and the Cleveland Browns enter the 2020 offseason with an additional $32.3 million in 2019 rollover cap. The $32.3 million must be used in the 2020 season or the Cleveland Browns lose the money. This salary cap adjustment does not move their position in the overall rankings of salary cap available, but it does increase their ability to be aggressive with one or more free agents.
Information provided by spotrac.com
One Tag Available
With the new CBA, NFL franchises will only be allowed to use one of either the franchise tag or transition tag. This isn’t likely to impact the Browns, but it will likely change the planning of other teams around the NFL who only have until noon on March 16, 2020 to designate who is getting the tag.
A great example of this can be found with the Dallas Cowboys. They currently have three premium players set to leave in unrestricted free agency, Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper, and Byron Jones. Under the former CBA, the Cowboys could have used the franchise tag and the transition tag to keep both players locked into their roster in 2020. With the new CBA’s implementation, only one of those players can be tagged.
Other Notes
More Games: the NFL season will be making a move to 17-games starting in the 2020 or 2021 season. There has been no firm answer on home or away for the Browns.
Expanded Playoff Field: starting in 2020 or 2021, seven teams in each conference will qualify for the postseason instead of the previous six. Only one team per conference will be given a first-round bye, down from the current two. This means there will be six opening-round games in each conference, instead of the previous four.
Bigger Rosters: The practice squad and gameday rosters have seen some changes. Two practice squad players can be elevated each week to the team’s active roster. Active gameday rosters have been increased from 46 to 48, with one of the two new additions being an offensive lineman.
Injured Reserve: Teams will be able to designate an additional player to return from injured reserve each year (three instead of two).
Summary
There are a lot of changes set to impact the NFL and there are still plenty of details to be ironed out. Overall, not much changes for the Browns going into 2020 except they now have more cash on hand and more room on the practice squad.