The Cleveland Browns have wasted no time in rebuilding their offensive line at the start of the 2026 NFL free agency period.
Late on Monday, the Green Bay Packers announced that they were releasing Pro-Bowl offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins as a major cap casualty. The Packers saved $19.5M in cap space but sent a very good offensive lineman to the open market. He wasn’t there long, as the Cleveland Browns jumped in and picked up the 30-year-old center as they continue to piece together a full rebuild up front.
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Jenkins comes to Cleveland as one of the top centers in football, but the story gets even better for the Cleveland Browns.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, general manager Andrew Berry made a couple of phone calls to the Packers to inquire about trading for Jenkins. They ultimately decided to hold off and let the situation play out. Once Jenkins hit the open market, the Browns became a top bidder, but were competing with their AFC North rival, the Baltimore Ravens.
Browns feel better knowing they beat an AFC North rival here
Baltimore now has a gaping hole at the center position after Tyler Linderbaum signed a record-setting deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. The two teams battled for Jenkins, but the Browns ultimately won out.
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Cleveland and Jenkins came to terms on a two-year, $24M agreement, $20M of which is guaranteed. That is a $12M per year value, which is significantly cheaper than what they were bidding for for Linderbaum, who signed for $27M per year.
Just a month ago, Cleveland made the decision to basically blow their entire offensive line up and commit to rebuilding it from the ground up. Since then, they traded for Tytus Howard, signed Zion Johnson, re-signed Tevon Jenkins, and locked up Elgton Jenkins. They have found a solution at four of the five positions, with the fifth one being the most important.
There is a chance that Cleveland could use their sixth pick on a left tackle to hopefully find their cornerstone tackle for the next decade. If they do that, they will have successfully rebuilt the offensive line with several young pieces mixed in with a couple of veterans and done it all at an affordable cost.
Cleveland rips a very good player away from their AFC North foe as they continue along on a solid start to the offseason.
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This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Browns ripped Elgton Jenkins away from Ravens in NFL free agency