{"id":767051,"date":"2026-02-21T15:42:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T15:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/767051\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T15:42:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T15:42:43","slug":"browns-rumor-top-free-agent-to-cle-could-heat-up-keep-an-eye-on-the-browns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/767051\/","title":{"rendered":"Browns rumor: Top free agent to CLE \u2018could heat up,\u2019 \u2018keep an eye on\u2019 the Browns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawgsbynature.com\/cleveland-browns-news\/117493\/browns-2026-nfl-offseason-important-dates-including-free-agency-draft-and-more\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL free agency doesn\u2019t officially start<\/a> until the poorly-nicknamed \u201clegal tampering period\u201d opens on March 9th. No one is fooled by that date, as conversations about free agents and trades started last year during and after the NFL trade deadline. Things will really heat up at the NFL combine next week when dinner and drinks are really about dollars and years in a contract or draft pick swaps in trades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">As noted, Walker is expected to get paid big money this offseason. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pff.com\/news\/nfl-2026-nfl-free-agency-predicting-the-highest-paid-free-agent-at-every-position\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">According to Pro Football Focus<\/a>, a contract of four years, $84 million seems realistic. <a href=\"https:\/\/overthecap.com\/position\/left-tackle\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Based on current left tackle contracts<\/a>, $21 million a year would put Walker just outside of the Top 10 at the position, but, as always, the amount of guaranteed money in the contract would be the key figure to watch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Packers selected Walker in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL draft after his career at Penn State. The NFL Network had projected Walker as a third-round pick who might fit better at right tackle or guard in the NFL due to some concerns with speed rushers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Instead, Walker locked down the left tackle position for Green Bay the last three seasons, showing incredible skill as a pass blocker (grading out at 70 or above by <a href=\"https:\/\/premium.pff.com\/nfl\/players\/2025\/REG\/player\/81798\/offense-blocking\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PFF each year<\/a>). Walker\u2019s downside is as a run blocker with mediocre grades in the 50s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">In the NFL, passing is king, which means Walker is likely to get a big contract, perhaps even above PFF\u2019s prediction. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawgsbynature.com\/cleveland-browns-salary-cap-contracts\/115264\/cleveland-browns-salary-cap-space-2026-free-agency-andrew-berry\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Browns can create a load of salary cap space<\/a> if they choose to, and the 26-year-old Walker would fit their timeline for competing over the next few years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Do you think the Browns are willing to pay Walker top dollar in NFL free agency? Would you be in favor of that or prefer GM Andrew Berry spend more draft capital on the offensive line instead?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NFL free agency doesn\u2019t officially start until the poorly-nicknamed \u201clegal tampering period\u201d opens on March 9th. No one&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":767052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[86,85,54,52261,3295,2337,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-767051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-browns","9":"tag-cleveland","10":"tag-cleveland-browns","11":"tag-cleveland-browns-rumors","12":"tag-cleveland-browns-free-agency","13":"tag-clevelandbrowns","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116109387147097316","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}