Browns, Maliek Collins Agree to Two-Year, $30 Million Extension
Cleveland locks up its veteran defensive tackle with $23 million in total guarantees, hours before Sunday's game at Tennessee
The Browns are keeping Maliek Collins around. Cleveland and the veteran defensive tackle agreed to a two-year, $30 million extension that includes $23 million in total guarantees, agent Drew Rosenhaus told NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and ESPN's Adam Schefter on Saturday night.
That's $15 million a year for a 31-year-old interior lineman, and the guarantee is the real tell of how the team feels about him: $23 million of the $30 million is locked in. The Browns aren't treating this as a stopgap. Collins has been one of the steadiest pieces of a defensive front that has carried this team, and he's on pace for career-best numbers at 31.
The #Browns and standout DT Maliek Collins have agreed to terms on a 2-year extension for $30M with $23M in total guarantees, agent Drew Rosenhaus tells me and @AdamSchefter. https://t.co/rIJIcfP2DFView on X →
Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet): The #Browns and standout DT Maliek Collins have agreed to terms on a 2-year extension for $30M with $23M in total guarantees, agent Drew Rosenhaus tells me and @AdamSchefter. https://t.co/rIJIcfP2DF
It's been a long road to this point. Collins came into the league in Dallas' 2016 draft class and had stops with the Raiders and Texans before landing in Cleveland. Now he's tied to the Browns through at least the next two seasons. That gives them a proven tackle next to their edge rushers while the front office sorts out the other side of the ball, where the offense has struggled to score through the first three quarters of games.
What to watch: whether the extension changes Cleveland's posture before the trade deadline. Locking up Collins signals the Browns plan to build around this defense rather than sell pieces off it.