Browns cut ties with $6.3 million free agent star after contract was a bust

Ogbo Okoronkwo was supposed to be the next star pass rusher for the Cleveland Browns.

Instead, he didn't even make it to the end of his three-year, $19 million contract.

Before the final season in which he'd be owed $6.3 million, Okoronkwo was released on Thursday, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Okoronkwo began his NFL career as a fifth-round pick of the Rams in 2019. He spent three seasons with Los Angeles and won a Super Bowl.

He didn't really break out until joining Houston in 2022, when he had 5.0 sacks and 44 tackles.

That's when he came to Cleveland, and he had 4.5 sacks with 31 tackles in his first season.

Okoronkwo's production declined to 3.0 sacks and 23 tackles in 2024.

And now, he's out of a job.

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At 30 years old, and as a 6-foot-2, 250-pound supreme athlete, Okoronkwo should get another chance somewhere.

But his Cleveland tenure turns out to be mostly a bust.

The Browns have a lot of speculative edge players on the depth chart behind Myles Garrett, and they must've decided it's worth seeing what they've got in those guys. Apparently, their mind was made up on Okoronkwo.

It's not as high-profile of a move as some, but it's another Browns failure, adding to the list in recent years.

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