A breakdown of why players came up short on earning a PPE for the upcoming season.
If you’ve been a reader of Dawgs By Nature for years, then you’ll know about the “proven performance escalator (PPE).” Prior to the 2021 season, it would offer a fourth-year salary bump to players who were selected between rounds 3-7 of the NFL Draft and met one of these two conditions: (1) the player participated in 35% of the snaps in two of his first three seasons, or (2) posted a cumulative average of 35% of snaps in his first three seasons.
After the 2020 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) happened, eligibility was expanded. Under the CBA, there are three different “levels” in which players can qualify for it, each one with a different pay grade. The player will receive the most lucrative level they are eligible for. Let’s dig into the levels first:
Level 1 PPE
- This is the old way, for players selected in rounds 3-7. If they play in 35% of the snaps in two of three seasons, or 35% of the team’s cumulative snaps over three seasons, they get the PPE.
- The expansion in this category is that second round picks are now included. They just have a different threshold: 60% of the snaps are required.
- For players earning the Level 1 PPE, their base salary in the final year of their contract will increase to the original round tender amount of $3.116 million.
Level 2 PPE
- This is a new category altogether, and it includes players from rounds 2-7. If they participated in 55% of the team’s snaps in all three seasons, they earn the Level 2 PPE.
- The Level 2 PPE is very similar to the Level 1 PPE financially: it is the same amount ($3.116 million), plus $250,000. Therefore, their base salary would be $3.366 million.
Level 3 PPE
- This is also a new category, and it’s the most lucrative one. If a player from rounds 2-7 is nominated to the Pro Bowl on the original ballot in any of their first three seasons, they earn the Level 3 PPE.
- The Level 3 PPE is worth the equivalent of a second-round RFA tender, which would equate to $4.89 million this year.
Who Was Eligible This Year?
Since the criteria waits three years, that means we have to look back at players from the 2021 NFL Draft. The players on the Cleveland Browns who would have been eligible for the escalator are: LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, OT James Hudson, and LB Tony Fields. Players from the 2021 NFL Draft who came from other teams would also be eligible. I don’t believe that applies to anyone for Cleveland.
Let’s start with LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, the team’s second round pick. He was banged up at times during his first two seasons, which caused him to miss some games. Unfortunately, when you look at his three-year cumulative snap total, it came to 59.39%, which means he was just barely shy of the 60% requirement for second-round picks.
Just how close was he? Think back to Week 18 this past season, when Cleveland rested many of their starters to prepare for the playoffs. JOK rested in that came, but if he had played the number of snaps like he normally would have, he probably would have gotten to the 60% threshold. Therefore, JOK did not earn a base salary escalator for 2024, which means he missed out on about $1.57 million in additional money.
You might wonder, “What about a Level 3 PPE for JOK, since he made the Pro Bowl this past season?” Yes, JOK did make the Pro Bowl. However, he was selected as an alternate. Per the guidelines, in order to qualify for a Level 3 PPE, you must have been selected on the original ballot.
With the way JOK has played, though, he should be in-line for a contract extension from the team.
LB Tony Fields didn’t see any defensive snaps as a rookie, and was a limited rotational player over the past two years. His cumulative playing time for a player selected in rounds 3-7 needed to be 35% of the team’s defensive snaps, but he was only at 16%. Additionally, he did not reach 35% in two of his three seasons, so he did not qualify for the PPE.
Hudson played in more than 35% of in just one of his three seasons with the team, which was this past year (44.8%). Sometimes, that can still qualify, because one season of playing a lot of snaps can drag that three-year cumulative percentage higher, especially when he played 27% and 25% during his first two seasons. Unfortunately for Hudson, he also fell just a bit short, only reaching a three-year cumulative mark of 32.86%. If he had started one more game, he would have been around 34.8%, showing how close things could have gotten.
Cumulatively, all three PPE candidates amounted to no salary increases, and thus no impact on the Browns’ precious cap space for the 2024 season.
Looking Into the Future
Looking forward to next year, players who could potentially earn a PPE are RB Jerome Ford, WR David Bell, WR Michael Woods, DE Alex Wright, and CB Martin Emerson. Wright and Emerson have already clinched Level 1 PPEs based on playing >35% of snaps in each of their first two seasons, and Emerson is on track for a Level 2 PPE is he plays in at least 55% of the snaps this year.
Ford has a slight chance of getting it, but he was hurt by going on IR as a rookie, so he’d have to play in about 52% of the team’s snaps this year to qualify. Bell would have to play in about 40.6% of the team’s snaps this year to qualify, which seems unlikely unless the team suffers multiple injuries at receiver.
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