The contract restructuring accepted by Orpheus Roye last week saved the Cleveland Browns more than $2 million in cap charges for 2002 -- and certainly saved the roster spot of the six-year veteran defensive tackle -- but doesn't offer much security beyond this year.

According to NFL Players Association salary documents, Roye reduced his base salary for 2002 from $3.6 million to $1.25 million. Even with a $750,000 signing bonus the club paid him for reconfiguring the final four seasons of his deal, his cap charge for 2002 dropped from $4.95 million to $2.692 million.

Without the cap relief of $2.25 million, the Browns probably would have released Roye after June 1, especially given that he is coming off a subpar season in which he recorded just 34 tackles. Because of the restructuring, Roye, 28, is all but assured of remaining with the team and is penciled in as the starter at right defensive tackle.

But even though Roye agreed to reduce his base salaries for every remaining season of a contract that runs through 2005, there is no guarantee he secured his future, since the club must pay him annual March roster bonuses of $1.25 million to retain him. If Roye plays no better in 2002 than he did last season, Cleveland officials will be reluctant to reward him a lofty roster bonus next spring.

So while the restructuring essentially reduces the value of Roye's six-year, $30 million by approximately $7 million -- with the opportunity to earn back some of the difference in performance incentives -- it really represents a quick fix for 2002 only.

Roye signed the original contract in 2000, receiving a $7.5 million signing bonus, as an unrestricted free agent who had played the first four years of his career with the Steelers. In the first two seasons of the contract, he earned about $10.7 million in bonuses and base salaries, but the deal then became unwieldy given his lack of production in 2001.

So instead of earning $3.6 million in 2002, Roye will make $2 million, the total of his new $1.25 million base salary and the $750,000 renegotiation signing bonus he received. His base salaries for subsequent seasons were scheduled to be $4.6 million (for 2003), $4.1 million (2004) and $4.6 million (2005). Under the new contract, those bases drop to $1.75 million (2003), $2 million (2004) and $2.25 million (2005).

The key for each of the next three seasons are the annual $1.25 million roster bonuses, and whether Roye has done enough in the preceding season to convince the Browns to pay them out. Even if Cleveland does pay all three roster bonuses, the team would save $1.41 million in 2003, $1.51 million in 2004 and $1.763 million in 2005 from what Roye would have cost under the original contract.

In 2000, his first season with the Browns, Roye appeared to be worth the big investment the team made, notching 69 tackles and two sacks. His effectiveness was dramatically down in 2001, though, and until last week's restructuring the conventional wisdom was that he would be a post-June 1 cap casualty.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.