Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry has been keeping busy in the offseason, infusing the roster with youth in a variety of ways.
There was the 2026 NFL Draft, where Berry selected 10 players, with at least seven or eight of those players in line to see playing time this fall.
The club also moved on from some notable players either through trade (Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams), free agency (Wyatt Teller to the Houston Texans, David Njoku to the Los Angeles Chargers, and Jerome Ford
to the Washington Commanders), or retirement (Joel Bitonio, which, while expected, is still a bummer).
With those boxes checked, and the summer break on the horizon after this week’s mandatory veteran minicamp, some might expect Berry to kick back and wait until the roster cutdown in August before he turns the lights back on in his office.
But Berry might need to spend some time focusing on a pair of veteran starters who have yet to take part in any of the on-field work during the offseason.
While the rest of the defense was putting in work today with new defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg, starting cornerback Denzel Ward and starting safety Grant Delpit were not, according to ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi.
Ward has yet to participate in any on-field drills as he skipped the team’s voluntary OTAs, which is his right. He is at the team facility this week, but did not practice today, according to Oyefusi. Although there were some reports that Ward participated in some 7-on-7 drills.
As for Delpit, he was around the team during the voluntary portion of the program but did not participate in any drills, which was the story again today.
It is only June, and Ward and Delpit are both veterans who know what it takes to be ready for the season. But there is an additional layer to this, as Delpit is entering the final year of his contract, while Ward has no guaranteed money left to be paid on the final two years of his contract.
Ward and Delpit are key parts of Cleveland’s defense, even more so now that Garrett is no longer around to make life easier on the defense, so keeping them happy is likely a priority for Berry. And, again, it is only June, so this can probably be filed under “not a pressing issue, but something to keep an eye on.”
Now, if it were to extend into training camp and one or both players decided to “hold in” and put pressure on Berry for some new deals? That’s a different story. But, fortunately for everyone involved, it is also a problem for down the road.
For now, life is good in Berea, even if head coach Todd Monken is slowly realizing that the quarterback situation is every bit as bad as he believed it to be.
Hopefully, that turns out to be Monken’s only problem in training camp, and he doesn’t have to deal with two of his veteran starters in the secondary being upset about their financial situations.
