Breakdown of RB Nyheim Hines and RB D’Onta Foreman contracts with the Browns

What has Cleveland committed to their two new running backs?

The Cleveland Browns added two running backs in free agency with the signing of Nyheim Hines and D’Onta Foreman. That complements Nick Chubb and Jerome Ford, but appears to remove Kareem Hunt from the equation.

Time will tell what happens with Chubb’s contract. While he is rehabbing, it makes sense for Cleveland to try to extend his deal, while trying to lower the cap hit of $15.8 million that he accounts for in 2024. With that in mind, Hines and Foreman combined account for around $3 million in cap hits on their one-year deals. Let’s take a look at them:

• Hines signed a one-year deal worth $1.995 million.
• His base salary is $1.145 million, and $850,000 of that is fully guaranteed. When you combine that with his $500,000 signing bonus, he has $1.35 million in guaranteed money.
• Hines has a $350,000 roster bonus. According to Spotrac, he’ll earn that if he makes the Browns’ 53-man roster.
• ESPN’s Adam Schefter originally said that Hines signed a 1-year deal worth up to $3.5 million. That means there could be $1.505 million worth of incentives in Hines’ contract, but it’s not clear what those are.

• Hines signed a one-year deal worth $1.292 million.
• His base salary is $1.125 million, with $167,500 of that being fully guaranteed. When you combine that with his $167,500 signing bonus, he has $335,000 in guaranteed money.
• In previous years, we talked about the Veteran Salary Benefit. This allows teams to sign veteran players to one-year deals, but only have the cap hit be worth the amount of a minimum-salary player who has had 2 years in the NFL. That value is $985,000. If you take that, plus his signing bonus, you come up with Foreman’s cap hit in 2024.