It is Christmas Eve in the NFL. Well, actually, it is kinda like the eve of the day you snuck and found out what you were getting for Christmas, but had to wait a few days to officially unwrap and take hold of your new presents. Legal tampering is a fun time for teams to talk to players, agree to contracts, and get fans talking before actually making things official.
Every once in a while, drama occurs between an initial report of a player signing and actually signing.
For the Cleveland Browns, NFL
free agency sees a lot of their roster available. OL Wyatt Teller has said goodbye to Cleveland, as has TE David Njoku. There is hope that OL Joel Bitonio will put off retirement to return in 2026, but he is also set for free agency as well.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Browns placed a restricted tender on starting safety Ronnie Hickman, but starting linebacker Devin Bush is set to hit the free agent market as well. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Cleveland would like to bring Bush back. At the same time, Fowler noted that LB Kaden Elliss has a connection to the Browns as well:
- Linebacker Kaden Elliss has fans around the league among the previous staffs he has played for: San Francisco (defensive coordinator Raheem Morris) and Cleveland (defensive coordinator Mike Rutenburg), among others, though Cleveland has interest in re-signing Devin Bush at linebacker.
Elliss was a seventh-round pick in the 2019 NFL draft. After four seasons with the New Orleans Saints, Elliss started all 51 games the last three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. Pro Football Focus projected Ellis’ free agent contract as three years, $36 million with $21 million guaranteed, noting his strengths and weaknesses:
While Elliss is somewhat limited in coverage, having never earned a 70.0 PFF coverage grade in a season, he does offer plenty in the passing game with his ability to rush the passer. He has earned PFF pass-rush grades above 80.0 in each of the past two seasons, totaling 73 pressures in that span.
PFF has Bush rated much higher (9th vs 88th) but projects the same overall contract with the Browns current starter earning $3 million more in guarantees. Given their grade on Bush, it is surprising his contract projection is basically the same as Ellis’:
Bush produced just one 60.0-plus PFF grade from 2019 through 2023, but he has broken out over his two seasons with the Cleveland Browns. He finished the 2025 season with an 87.6 PFF grade that ranked fourth among all linebackers, and his three interceptions tied for third at the position.
PFF projects Devin Lloyd to bring home the biggest contract among free agent linebackers: Three years, $48 million with $32.5 million guaranteed.
Given Rutenberg’s familiarity with Elliss and the potential for Bush to receive a huge contract offer, it will be interesting to see if Cleveland’s defense sees a change at one starting position this offseason.
At what contract value would you be comfortable bringing Bush back under? Do you think familiarity between Rutenberg and Elliss should sway the Browns his way?
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
- New, improved notifications system!
