Right guard Wyatt Teller agrees to 4-year, $56.8 million extension as Browns further invest in O-line

Right guard Wyatt Teller had to fight to keep a starting spot in 2020 but quickly became an indispensable part of one of the league's best rushing attacks.He'll be paid accordingly.The Browns and Teller reached agreement Tuesday on a four-year, $56.8 million extension with $28 million guaranteed, a league source confirmed to The Chronicle-Telegram. He was set to become a free agent after the season, and the extension runs through 2025.Only Washington's Brandon Scherff ($18 million under franchise tag) and Kansas City's Joe Thuney ($16 million) have higher average salaries at guard than Teller's $14.2 million.The secondary's story vs. Bengals: Sticky coverage, contested catches, frustrated receiversTeller, who will turn 27 Nov. 21, was a fifth-round pick of the Bills in 2018 out of Virginia Tech. Then-general manager John Dorsey traded for him at the end of the 2019 preseason.Teller's start to his career in Cleveland was underwhelming. He started the final nine games of 2019, but the team, under new management and with a new line coach in veteran Bill Callahan, added competition at right guard in 2020.Teller emerged the starter, without much fight, and quickly established himself as a force in the wide zone run scheme of coach Kevin Stefanski and Callahan. Teller (6-foot-4, 314 pounds) consistently mauled defenders in the run game, as Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt became the league's top running back tandem.Teller picked up where he left off this year, and the Browns rank second in the NFL with 160.2 rushing yards a game and first with a 5.3 average and 16 rushing touchdowns.Zone Coverage: Episode 81Pro Football Focus grades him second at guard (89.8) behind Dallas' Zack Martin (93.9). Browns left guard Joel Bitonio is third (88.7). Teller ranked first last year at 92.3.The decision to extend Teller may have seemed like a foregone conclusion, but it wasn't. The Browns had already invested a ton of resources on the line, and there's only so much money to go around with the salary cap. But Teller's repeat performance in 2021 was impossible to ignore.The Browns signed right tackle Jack Conklin to a three-year, $42 million contract as a free agent in 2020. Bitonio has 1½ years left on a six-year, $51.2 million deal, center JC Tretter's three-year, $32.55 million deal also runs through 2022, and left tackle Jedrick Wills signed a four-year, $19.7 million deal as the No. 10 pick in 2020.Teller is better as a run blocker than pass blocker, but has improved in that area. He's allowed one sack this year, per PFF.