The NFL salary cap is real but it is also very flexible. Cleveland Browns GM Andrew Berry has been very clear that the salary cap is an accounting tool, not a decider of what the team can do.
Going into NFL free agency in 2024, the Browns salary cap space is in fact very flexible with Berry able to save $66 million in cap space with restructured contracts which would give him a ton of options in free agency.
The expectation has been that the league’s salary cap would be just north of $240 million for 2024 with the projection landing around $243 million.