Brock Osweiler will be the Cleveland Browns' most expensive player under the salary cap in 2017, but No. 1 pick Myles Garrett will be paid the most over the course of the season.
Garrett benefited from being the draft's first overall pick, and the bulk of his rookie earnings are in his signing bonus of $20.258 million. For the season, he'll be paid $20.723 million.
Osweiler benefited a year ago from a generous free-agent contract courtesy of the Houston Texans. That deal called for him to be paid $16 million this season, and it's guaranteed, meaning he gets paid by the Browns if they start him, and he gets paid by the Browns if they release him. Osweiler's entire $16 million salary cap hit is in that salary, which ranks first on the team and accounts for 8.75 percent of the team's cap.
Those figures (and the rest) come from a dive into ESPN's Roster Management System and spotrac.com, a site that tracks salaries in professional sports.
The top 10 Browns in terms of salary cap hits fall this way:
Osweiler -- $16 million
CB Joe Haden -- $14.4 million
OG Joel Bitonio -- $12.237 million
LB Jamie Collins -- $12.1 million
OT Joe Thomas -- $11.5 million
OG Kevin Zeitler -- $8.4 million
WR Kenny Britt -- $5.625 million
Garrett -- $5.529 million (signing bonus are prorated over the course of the contact, so Garrett's counts as $5.064 million per year)
LB Chris Kirksey -- $5.162 million
DL Desmond Bryant -- $4 million
Osweiler's cap hit is the 25th-highest in the league, and his salary is fourth-highest among quarterbacks.
Haden's financial cost shows why this is an important season for him. He missed 14 games the past two seasons with various injuries. Those injuries are not his fault, and Haden played through a sport hernia issue last season.
But teams are not going to carry big salaries for players who are not available. Haden remains a staunch Cleveland guy and he believes he is still among the best corners in the league, but to prove that he has to stay on the field. Haden has upcoming salaries of $11.1 and $10.4 million in 2018 and '19; if he's not productive and available this season, it will raise the real possibility he may not see those paydays in Cleveland.
Bitonio's large cap hit is intriguing, given he is coming off Lisfranc surgery. That is a serious procedure that has hampered some. The Browns must have complete faith he will come back healthy.
Bitonio, though, has dealt with the same issues as Haden when it comes to injury. He has been sidelined 17 game the last two seasons. Bitonio's extension carries him through 2022; so the Browns have to hope those injuries were an aberration and not a sign of what is to come.
When it come to salary cap costs, four other left tackles are ahead of Thomas: Washington's Trent Williams, Buffalo's Cordy Glenn, Indianapolis' Anthony Castonzo and Philadelphia's Jason Peters. Combined Pro Bowls for those four players: 14 (nine by Peters, none by Glenn and Castonzo). Pro Bowls for Thomas: 10. Combined first-team All-Pro for the quartet: Two (both by Peters). First-team All-Pro for Thomas: 6. When it comes to base salary, Thomas will earn $8.8 million. That's sixth in the league among left tackles.
Collins and Kirksey signed contact extensions, and Zeitler and Britt were free-agent additions. Britt got the same deal that Terrelle Pryor could have had, but he was not paid like a superstar. His cap cost is tied for 31st in the league. One spot ahead of him at 30: Pryor.
One other tidbit from Spotrac: The Browns have the youngest training camp (90-man) roster in the league. Average age: 24.31.