Trade rumors have swirled around Greg Newsome II for awhile but his contract could play a huge role in a deal
Many believe that the 2025 NFL season is really a soft reset for the Cleveland Browns. The team traded down out of the second overall pick to add an additional pick in the first round of the 2026 draft, brought in two veteran quarterbacks, then drafted two others, and seems to be looking to establish what their identity is.
With an older roster, the Browns could see a number of trade rumors surrounding their team as training camp draws to an end and all the way up to the NFL trade deadline. CB Greg Newsome II has been mentioned over the last two years as a potential veteran on his way out the door in a trade and his contract could give Cleveland GM Andrew Berry even more reason to make the move this year:
Newsome is playing 2025 on his fully guaranteed fifth-year option worth a little over $13 million.
But Newsome doesn’t start in the base defense, and the fifth-year option structure means the Browns would incur no dead money if they traded him at some point before November. Both Newsome and Martin Emerson Jr, the team’s No. 2 cornerback, are only signed through 2025. If the Browns can only choose one for the future, given their cap issues, Newsome could be moved strictly based on the savings and 2026 cap rollover a trade would create.
Both Newsome and Emerson are under pressure to perform after down years in 2024. As noted, both have contracts that expire at the end of the season, with the possibility of trading Newsome freeing up cap space for the Browns as they reset the roster.
Trading Newsome would save Cleveland over $13 million against the cap which, as Zac Jackson notes, would likely be rolled over into next year.