Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Browns sign Wyatt Teller to extension

   On a day that the Cleveland Browns received bad news on the Covid-19 front with Nick Chubb and Demetric Felton testing positive and may miss Sunday's game against New England, the Browns took a step forward for the future as they signed guard Wyatt Teller to a four-year contract extension.

Teller signed a contract worth 14.2 million a year for a total of 56.8 million of which 28 million is guaranteed.

Teller becomes the second-highest salaried guard in the league behind only Kansas City's Joe Varney and gives the Browns two young anchors on the offensive line alongside 2020 first-round tackle Jedrick Wills.

The 26-year-old Teller was drafted from Virginia Tech by Buffalo in 2018 and spent that season with the Bills before then-Cleveland general manager John Dorsey traded 2020 fifth and sixth-round draft picks to Buffalo for Teller and the Bills seventh-rounder in 2021 during the 2019 training camp when Dorsey's 2018 second-round pick Austin Corbett was busting at guard and the Browns were in desperate need of help at the position.

Teller was nothing special in his first season as a Brown but was behind the eight ball learning the system on the fly at the end of camp and during the season.

Teller fit perfectly into the blocking scheme used by Bill Callahan and despite having to win the starting spot in 2020 in training camp, Teller dominated and was named to the All-Pro second team.

Teller is having another All-Pro level season this year and despite his elite play, Teller was thought to be the player that may have been left out in the cold among the players that the Browns were going to have to extend their contracts or allow them to test free agency.

However, the Browns will have to find the money for other players now with Teller (and earlier extensions signed by Nick Chubb and Myles Garrett) taking up more cap space.

The Browns will have Baker Mayfield and Denzel Ward coming up on their second contracts and veterans such as Joel Bitonio, Jarvis Landry, and Kareem Hunt all eligible for free agency after the 2022 season. 

Cleveland won't be able to afford them all and the players that they are able to retain could be the difference in keeping the winning team of late around a little longer.

No comments: