With a new regime come changes and another defensive starter may be swept up in those for the Browns.
Defensive lineman Ahtyba Rubin will "likely" be a goner if he doesn't restructure his contract this offseason, Pro Football Talk reports.
The 28-year-old, who was drafted by the Browns in 2008, started 14 games at defensive end in 2013 and is going into the final season of a four-year, $27.6 million contract.
Cutting ties with Rubin would save the Browns $6.8 million against the salary cap. But would this really even be labeled a "cap casualty?"
With the cap expected to rise even more for 2014, the Browns will have somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 million to spend. Releasing veteran linebacker D'Qwell Jackson Wednesday saved $4 million more. This is not a team in desperate need of cutting costs to meet the NFL's threshold.
The report does say though that Rubin could "presumably stay at a reduced rate."
That leaves you wondering if the Browns plan is really just to clean house or they are actually trying to clear up more money for something even bigger in free agency.
We'll see when the frenzy begins March 8 with the opening of the negotiation period and then March 11 when agreements can be made official.
