It’s that time of year again in which we look at which members of the Cleveland Browns earned or were eligible for the “proven performance escalator (PPE).”
Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), there are three different “levels” in which players can qualify for a fourth-year salary bump, 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:
Level 1 PPE
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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.
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If the player is a second-round pick, they have a different threshold: 60% of the snaps are required.
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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, which is estimated to be $3.605 million.
Level 2 PPE
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This 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.
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The Level 2 PPE is very similar to the Level 1 PPE financially: it is the same amount ($3.547 million), plus $250,000. Therefore, their base salary would be $3.855 million.
Level 3 PPE
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This is 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.
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The Level 3 PPE is worth the equivalent of a second-round RFA tender, which is estimated to be about $5.811 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 2023 NFL Draft. The players on the Cleveland Browns who would have been eligible for the escalator are: WR Cedric Tillman, OT Dawand Jones, C Luke Wypler, and DE Isaiah McGuire. Players from the 2023 NFL Draft who came from other teams would also be eligible. I don’t believe that applies to anyone for Cleveland.
WR Cedric Tillman – 3rd Round Pick in 2023
|
Year |
% Snaps |
Played |
Team |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2025 |
47.60% |
515 |
1,082 |
|
2024 |
36.61% |
432 |
1,180 |
|
2023 |
49.11% |
609 |
1,240 |
Let’s start with WR Cedric Tillman, the team’s third-round pick in 2023. He played in nearly half of the team’s snaps as a rookie, and then in 2024, he dropped to 36.6% of the snaps. Still, since he played over 35% in two of his three seasons, he qualified for a Level 1 PPE.
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Tillman was originally set to make $1.463 million in base salary in 2026. With the Level 1 PPE, the base salary jumps to about $3.605 million, an increase of $2.142 million.
OT Dawand Jones – 4th Round Pick in 2023
|
Year |
% Snaps |
Played |
Team |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2025 |
13.22% |
143 |
1,082 |
|
2024 |
43.31% |
511 |
1,180 |
|
2023 |
57.42% |
712 |
1,240 |
Next up is OT Dawand Jones, a fourth-round pick in 2023. He’s been banged up throughout his NFL career, to the point where it’s challenging to depend on him as a regular starting lineman. Last year, he only played in 13% of the team’s snaps. That didn’t matter because Jones played in over 35% of the team’s snaps in his first two years, so like Tillman, he already had the PPE locked up with his first two seasons.
Jones was originally set to make $1.145 million in base salary in 2026. With the Level 1 PPE, the base salary jumps to about $3.605 million, an increase of $2.46 million.
C Luke Wypler – 6th Round Pick in 2023
|
Year |
% Snaps |
Played |
Team |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2025 |
25.14% |
272 |
1,082 |
|
2024 |
0.00% |
0 |
1,180 |
|
2023 |
4.60% |
57 |
1,240 |
C Luke Wypler barely played as a rookie, and then he missed the entire 2024 season with an ankle injury. Even if he had played in 100% of the team’s snaps in 2025, he wasn’t going to be eligible for the PPE. His only shot would have been as a first-ballot Pro Bowler, but obviously that didn’t happen, so there was no PPE for Wypler.
DE Isaiah McGuire – 4th Round Pick in 2023
|
Year |
% Snaps |
Played |
Team |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2025 |
39.09% |
412 |
1,054 |
|
2024 |
43.43% |
469 |
1,080 |
|
2023 |
8.88% |
94 |
1,059 |
DE Isaiah McGuire is the only other player from the team’s 2023 draft class who is still with the team, and this was probably the closest one. He did not play very much as a rookie, but in 2024, he played in 43.4% of the team’s snaps. He needed to crack at least 35% of the team’s snaps in 2025 to get the PPE. Early on, it looked like it would happen easily, as he was a big part of the rotation. However, he had some injuries, and then Alex Wright ended up getting more snaps. Still, McGuire played in 39.1% of the snaps last year, allowing him to qualify for the PPE with two seasons above 35%.
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McGuire was originally set to make $1.145 million in base salary in 2026. With the Level 1 PPE, the base salary jumps to about $3.605 million, an increase of $2.46 million.
Cumulatively, the three Browns players who earned PPE amounted to increases of $7.062 million that have already factored into the team’s cap space in 2026.
Looking Into the Future
Looking forward to next year, players who could potentially earn a PPE are DT Mike Hall Jr, WR Malachi Corley, OG Zak Zinter, WR Jamari Thrash, LB Nathaniel Watson, CB Myles Harden. None of those players have clinched a PPE through their first two seasons, and the only player of the group that has had any season above 35% is Harden, who played in 50% of the snaps last season. If Harden is the team’s primary nickelback again in 2026, then he has a good shot at the PPE.
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Zinter could also have a shot at it, but only if you project him to be a starter and play nearly 100% of the snaps. Given their depth on the roster, Corley and Thrash are doubtful to get it, and Watson has no shot at getting it. That leaves Hall, who has played in 18.7% and 16.6% of the snaps. Given the fact that defensive tackles are often rotational players, and he would need to play in about 70.4% of the team’s snaps this year to reach a three-year cumulative of 35%, he is also unlikely to get it.
