The Browns turned the page following the Odell Beckham drama of the past week, signing starting guard Wyatt Teller to a rare mid season extension worth $56.8 million over four years. The contract has $29 million in guarantees of which $16.5 million are guaranteed at signing with the balance a virtual lock to be earned. Per a league source with knowledge of the contract the breakdown of the contract is as follows.
As part of the new contract Teller will receive a $5.6315 million signing bonus and his paragraph 5 salary is reduced from $2.183 million to $920K for the remainder of the season. His new cap number will be $2.677 million, an increase of just under $500,000.
In 2022 Teller has a fully guaranteed $1.5 million salary and a $9 million option bonus. His cap number should be $4.876 million if the option is exercised.
In 2023, Teller has an injury protected salary worth $12.5 million. That salary will be fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2022 league year so realistically this is fully guaranteed. His cap number that year is $15.876 million.
In 2024 Teller will earn a salary of $11 million, an offseason roster bonus due on the 3rd day of the league year of $2 million, and up to $1 million in per game bonuses. Teller’s cap figure is $17.376 million.
In 2025 Teller will earn $12.8 million in salary, a $1 million offseason roster bonus, and the same $1 million in per game bonuses. The cap number is $18.176 million.
Among guards on long term contracts, Teller’s annual value ranks 2nd in the NFL behind only Joe Thuney who signed a $16 million per year contract in free agency last year with the Chiefs. The guarantee package ranks fifth.
In terms of where the contract ranks in cash flows it would seem that the benchmark here was the Brandon Brooks contract extension in Philadelphia with a payment structure that runs a bit under Thuney. It does not approach the Martin deal which was heavily frontloaded. Here is the percentage of the four year contract value earned each year for the guards at the top of the market.
| Player | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| Brandon Brooks | 24.0% | 48.0% | 72.4% |
| Wyatt Teller | 27.3% | 49.3% | 73.9% |
| Joe Thuney | 28.3% | 50.8% | 75.0% |
| Zack Martin | 40.1% | 59.6% | 79.0% |
Teller more or less nestles in the middle of the group here which was a strength for the Browns as is the heavy addition of per game roster bonuses on the back end of the contract, which is something none of the other players have in their deals. The Browns also will avoid a 17th game check worth $128,411 by doing the extension now rather than after the season.
The full salary cap breakdown can be viewed on Teller’s salary cap page.