Deshaun Watson is in his third season with the Cleveland Browns. They reportedly restructured his contract for the third time.
According to AthleticsThe player and team have agreed to a restructuring that will not affect the $92 million in fully guaranteed money owed to Watson for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, nor the $72.9 million salary cap hit. ‘it will have for every season, but this will do it. allow Cleveland to spread his dead money over multiple seasons if he stays with the team through 2026.
The alternative was a significant cap hit in 2027, when Watson will no longer be under contract with the team.
It’s not hyperbole to call Watson’s five-year, fully guaranteed, $230 million contract not only the worst contract in the NFL from a team perspective, but also one of the worst transactions in sports history. Three years into his tenure with the Browns, Watson has still missed more games due to a sexual misconduct suspension (11) than the starts he earned with the Browns (nine).
He has yet to play more than seven games in a Browns uniform in a season – having played in 19 total games – and is expected to finish his second straight season on the injured list, after suffering a tear the Achilles tendon in October. Meanwhile, his legal troubles stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct by more than 20 massage therapists have been so persistent that the NFL closed an investigation as recently as this month.
Here’s the bottom line: These were supposed to be the easiest years of Watson’s contract. He has yet to hit a cap hit higher than this year’s $27.9 million mark.
Because the Browns exercised their right to restructure his contract after the 2022 and 2023 seasons, giving them more than $35 million in cap space each year, they now face gargantuan success from Watson for the next two years, without really any safety valve. By OverTheCap calculations, the Browns are currently $17 million over the salary cap for next season and releasing Watson would only increase that number.
Given that the team currently has 3-12 players, there are a lot of improvements to be made and virtually no resources to do so. After spending three years doing everything it could to keep Watson happy, Cleveland is now tasked with pulling off a successful rebuild with the albatross on its record.
The next two seasons could be really ugly for the Browns, and it would be entirely self-inflicted.
