Cleveland Browns: Cut Struggling Defensive Starter After 2 Seasons

The Cleveland Browns enter the offseason with an unfavorable cap situation, $24 million over the cap. However, due to the structure of many of their contracts, Cleveland will restructure most of their players instead of releasing them because they would lose money instead of freeing up cap space with a pre-June 1st cut. Also, the Browns will utilize the post-June 1st cut designation, but only two players can get cut with this designation, cap relief is not immediate as they don’t free up cap space until June 2nd, and the dead cap spreads into the 2026 offseason as well.

The team made their first significant roster move of the offseason, parting ways with their struggling starter.

The Cleveland Browns cut struggling defensive starter after two seasons

According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the Browns cut Juan Thornhill earlier today with a post-June 1st cut designation. Since they would lose $2.268 million in cap space and incur a dead cap hit of $7.952 million with a pre-June 1st cut, the team decided to designate him as a post-June 1st cut. As a result, the team will free up $3.4 million on June 2nd and incur a dead cap hit of $2.284 million for 2025 and $5.668 million for 2026.

The #Browns are releasing veteran S Juan Thornhill, sources say. The team and Thornhill’s camp spoke in recent days and the decision was made to part ways now, giving Thornhill a few weeks before free agency to find his next home.

Thornhill had one year at $7m left on his deal. pic.twitter.com/CcNQpn5jc2

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 24, 2025

The safety had a disappointing season with Cleveland

Juan Thornhill had a disappointing 2024 campaign, missing early in the season (Weeks 2-6) with a quad injury and, upon returning, struggled in pass coverage, and later seeing his role decrease. Thornhill recorded 49 tackles, one TFL, and three pass deflections, allowing 16 receptions on 25 targets for 280 yards, three touchdowns, and a 141.7 passer rating in 11 starts and 401 (37%) defensive snaps. Since Week 11, Ronnie Hickman alternated with him at free safety for the rest of the season.

Also Read: Predicting Each AFC North Team’s Most Likely Cap Casualty for 2025

 A look at the Cleveland Browns current free safety room

Ronnie Hickman is currently the only free safety under contract, while D’Anthony Bell is a restricted free agent this offseason. Hickman had a solid second season and, as previously mentioned, alternated with Juan Thornhill at free safety later in the year. He recorded 45 tackles, one TFL, and one pass deflection, allowing 14 receptions on 23 targets for 212 yards, one touchdown, and a 105.7 passer rating in 14 games and five snaps, representing 463 (43%) snaps.

The former undrafted free agent is currently the favorite to start at free safety, but the Browns will likely acquire one in free agency or through the draft.

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