Cleveland Browns Make Moves By Signing Kenny Britt and J.C. Tretter

The Cleveland Browns dipped into their seemingly endless amount of cap space today to make two signings, wide receiver Kenny Britt and center JC Tretter. Britt’s deal is for four years and worth $32.5 million with $17 million guaranteed, and the terms of Tretter’s deal with the Browns is yet to be announced, but both are good veteran presences.

The Browns move with Kenny Britt raises some eyebrows, and potentially foreshadows the departure of rising star Terrelle Pryor. The Browns opted not to franchise tag Pryor, who is an unrestricted free agent, before the deadline. This move would also mean the Browns could create a much better offensive attack if they were to re-sign Pryor and push Corey Coleman into the slot.

Britt has had a rocky career but had a career revival last year in Los Angeles. The 28-year-old had 68 catches for 1,002 yards and five touchdowns with rocky quarterback play. Britt would also stand to be the team’s largest wideout at 6’3″, 215 pounds unless Pryor rejoins, giving them a formidable boundary receiver tandem.

Tretter is going to be the shoe-in to start at center this year for the Browns unless Cam Erving makes inhuman strides to get better this offseason. Tretter was the fifth-highest graded center in pass blocking efficiency whereas Erving was the 4th lowest. This was a move that needed to be made and could save the Browns from drafting one and instead of adding talent where other holes are.

These moves weren’t the biggest splashes made on the open market today, but they are upgrades on their roster at both positions. The team’s also been linked to free agent guard Kevin Zeitler. However, the top priority for Cleveland should be to go after Terrelle Pryor and get a long term deal done.