The Browns are giving defensive lineman Desmond Bryant some money for nothing, literally.
Bryant suffered an offseason pectoral injury away from the team, which allows the Browns to pay not a penny of his $6 million salary. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Browns nevertheless will pay Bryant $1.25 million for 2016. The decision follows extensive negotiations over the past month between the team and agent Drew Rosenhaus.
For next year, when Bryant is due to earn a non-guaranteed base salary of $7 million at age 31 and with the Browns embarked on a youth movement so obvious and extensive that Creed Bratton has once again dunked his head in toner, he has agreed to drop his salary to $3 million, with the balance potentially coming from $500,000 in 46-man per-game roster bonuses and playing-time incentives that total up to $3.5 million, if he participates in 75 percent of the defensive snaps in 2017.
So Bryant gets $1.25 million he wouldn’t have earned under the circumstances, and his compensation in 2017 will be tied to his ability to suit up and play.
