Bears TE Gerald Everett and Browns EDGE Obo Okoronkwo may soon be released
NFL free agency is slated to start March 12th. Before teams gear up to spend money, they often have to trim the fat on their rosters to open more salary cap room and weed out any individuals not living up to their pay grade.
The Athletic put together a list of cap casualties for all 32 teams. Cooper Kupp obviously made the list for the Los Angeles Rams, though the team will explore every avenue in order to trade his oversized contract. Another two former Rams also made the list in Chicago Bears TE Gerald Everett and Cleveland Browns EDGE Obo Okoronkwo.
Here’s what The Athletic had to say about each:
Cooper Kupp, WR
If the Rams can’t trade Kupp, they could cut him. His salary in 2025 is tricky. Cutting Kupp prior to June 1 would incur $22.26 million in dead money, while only saving $7.5 million. His roster bonus of $7.5 million is due March 17. Cutting Kupp after June 1 would incur $14.8 million in dead money while saving $15 million, but the team has made it clear it is ready to move on. The Rams did not ask Kupp to restructure his existing contract, a league source said, although he probably would be willing to eat some of the money owed to him to actually get a trade done. — Jourdan Rodrigue
Gerald Everett, TE
After signing a two-year, $12 million contract to be the pass-catching tight end to complement Cole Kmet, Everett fell into the Bears’ No. 2 tight end curse. He finished with only eight catches for 36 yards. With a $6.5 million cap hit in 2025 and only $1 million of dead cap if he’s cut, it’s hard to see Everett sticking around to be part of Ben Johnson’s offense. He’ll be 31 in June, and while the Bears’ coaches clearly struggled last year to incorporate the tight end position, Everett’s poor production and high cap charge are a bad combo. — Kevin Fishbain
Obo Okoronkwo, EDGE
The Browns face a series of important salary cap-related decisions, and they could save $3 million by designating Okoronkwo as a post-June 1 cut ahead of his age-30 season. They also need to make difficult decisions on the future of veteran defensive tackles Dalvin Tomlinson and Shelby Harris — while also dealing with Myles Garrett’s trade request. It’s not been a fun few months for the Browns in just about any capacity. — Zac Jackson
Sean McVay’s first draft pick is aging out of the NFL:
Everett was the first Ram drafted in the Sean McVay era. McVay moved to Los Angeles in 2017, a year removed from the Rams relocating to LA and trading up to take Jared Goff first overall. With McVay’s history in Washington getting impressive production out of the tight end position, it made sense that LA would spend a second rounder on a versatile pass catcher like Everett. While the vision never fully blossomed, Everett still contributed memorable plays like a key touchdown in the fan-favorite win over the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018.
It’s wild to think that age is a concern for someone like Everett, who will be 31 in time for the 2025 season. We’ve now seen a serviceable player nearly fulfill their full career trajectory in the time McVay has been a head coach, and LA’s leading man (age 38) is still the second-youngest in his ranks behind only Mike MacDonald of the Seattle Seahawks (37).
Other thoughts:
Cutting a productive player like Okoronkwo in order to save just $3M seems ill-advised, but the Browns are forced to pinch pennies after giving Deshaun Watson a fully guaranteed contract, pushing money down the line through restructures, and not seeing much return from that deal. This is one of many tough decisions that will need to be made in Cleveland, and it comes at the cost of key depth players that ultimately round out your roster and create a competitive edge.
You can never have too many good pass rushers. The Browns will likely be down one in Okronkwo with another, Myles Garrett, asking for a trade that will get him out of town.
