Defensive tackle Maliek Collins and the Cleveland Browns have agreed on two more years at $30 million, $23 million of it guaranteed, a deal keeping the 31-year-old off next spring’s free-agent market and under contract through the 2028 season.
Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter both reported the agreement on Saturday, October 24, a day before the Browns played at Tennessee. Collins’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, confirmed the terms. Collins had been in the final year of his current contract, so the deal settles one of Cleveland’s bigger roster questions before the trade deadline.
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. pic.twitter.com/rIJIcfP2DF
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 25, 2026
A raise for a player who came back from a lost season
Collins joined Cleveland in March 2025 on a two-year, $20 million contract shortly after San Francisco released him. The new agreement adds $10 million in total value over the same length, and the guaranteed money alone is more than he was promised on his first Browns deal.
His first season in Cleveland was the best of his career until it stopped short. He started each of the first 12 games and set a personal high with 6.5 sacks before a quadriceps injury in Week 13 ended his year. The recovery carried into the summer: he opened training camp on the reserve/physically unable to perform list before he was cleared in time for the opener against Jacksonville.
He has not missed a game since. Through six games he has 16 tackles, five tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and eight quarterback hits, steady production from the interior on a defense that has had to find pressure in new places.
Why Cleveland moved now
The Browns entered Week 7 at 4-2 with the league’s fifth-ranked scoring defense and 19 sacks, numbers they have built without Myles Garrett, who left in the offseason. Keeping Collins next to Mason Graham, the fifth overall pick in 2025 who is signed through at least 2028, gives the front office its starting tackle pair for the next two seasons. Graham is currently managing a knee injury, which only adds to Collins’ value in the short term.
For a player in his 30s, a two-year term with most of the money guaranteed is a balance for both sides: Collins gets security after a serious injury, and Cleveland avoids a long commitment at an age when defensive linemen tend to decline.
The move appears on the league-wide transactions page.
What comes next
Cleveland visits the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, November 1, at 1:00 p.m. EST, a rematch in the AFC North.
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