Maliek Collins signs 2-year, $30M extension with Browns

The deal came from agent Drew Rosenhaus, which is about as on-brand as it gets for a Saturday night in October.

Ian Rapoport

@RapSheet

The #Browns and standout DT Maliek Collins have agreed to terms on a 2-year extension for $30M with $23M in total guarantees, agent Drew Rosenhaus tells me and @AdamSchefter.

Look at the guarantee. $23 million of $30 million is locked in, so roughly 77% of the deal is real money no matter what. That isn't a team hedging on a vet. That's Cleveland saying Collins is part of the plan, and the extension runs through the 2028 season.

It's also a big turn from where he was a year ago. Collins joined the Browns in 2025 and a knee injury cut that season short. He came back this year and has been playing like a guy with something to prove: through 6 weeks he has 16 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 18 pressures, which is on pace for a career year.

He has bounced around plenty to get here. Dallas took him in the 3rd round in 2016 out of Nebraska, and he had stops with the Raiders, Texans and 49ers before he landed in Cleveland. Now he gets the kind of security journeyman interior linemen don't usually see this late in their careers.

ProFootballTalk

@ProFootballTalk

Browns sign DT Maliek Collins, who was due to become a free agent in March, to a two-year extension. t.co/TWn026HWSJ

The timing matters. Collins was headed for free agency in March, and a defensive tackle with 3.5 sacks before Halloween would have drawn real interest. Cleveland didn't wait to find out what that market looked like. They paid now, mid-season, and took the free agency question off the table entirely.

The deal is only 2 years, so the risk stays manageable for a player who's already had a major knee injury. And for a Browns front that needs push up the middle, keeping a productive veteran next to the rest of the line is worth more than starting over in the spring. Now he has to keep the pressure numbers coming over the back half of the season.