The Cleveland Browns made Maliek Collins’ new deal official Monday, Oct. 26, announcing that the veteran defensive tackle signed a two-year contract extension.
The terms surfaced over the weekend. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Saturday that the extension is worth $30 million with $23 million in total guarantees and keeps Collins in Cleveland through the 2028 season, according to ClutchPoints, which noted that agent Drew Rosenhaus confirmed the deal to Rapoport and ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
That’s a raise from the two-year, $20 million contract Collins signed in March 2025 after the 49ers let him go. He’s 31 and in his 11th NFL season, and Cleveland is his fifth stop after Dallas, Las Vegas, Houston and San Francisco.
The case for the raise
The production backs it up. Collins has started all seven games for the 5-2 Browns and has 3.5 sacks, 17 tackles, six tackles for loss and eight quarterback hits, per the team. His sack total is tied for sixth among defensive tackles, and his tackles for loss are tied for third.
That production comes after a quad injury cut his first Cleveland season short. He posted a career-high 6.5 sacks in 12 games in 2025, then missed the last five after surgery, and he was ready for Week 1 this fall. Head coach Todd Monken didn’t overthink it: “Well, he earned it. Let’s be real,” he said, per BrownsZone.
General manager Andrew Berry called Collins “one of the top interior pass rushers in football” in the team’s statement, and leaned just as hard on his role as the veteran voice for a young defensive line, as Pro Football Talk noted. A 2016 third-round pick, Collins has 40.5 career sacks.
Why it matters
McGraw Media’s read: this is the rare midseason extension that’s as much about the locker room as the stat sheet. Collins was headed for free agency after this season, and Cleveland chose to pay a 31-year-old now rather than risk losing him on the open market in March. The risk is age and last year’s quad surgery, which is why two years with a reported $23 million guaranteed feels like the right size, not a stretch. For a team sitting at 5-2, keeping the guy who anchors the middle and mentors the young linemen behind him is a smart way to protect a good start.
This story was drafted with AI assistance and fact-checked by McGraw Media.
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