The Cleveland Browns restructured the contract of quarterback Deshaun Watson once again, and now new details are emerging about what it means for both parties.
This is the third time in three years that the Browns and Watson have agreed to restructure his deal to clear cap space. This is unfortunately a necessary evil for where the Browns are at with the mess they have created with their current quarterback situation.
Especially with Myles Garrett essentially demanding a plan from the front office before he makes any future commitments to the team.
So what exactly did the Browns do by restructuring Watson’s contract?
It will essentially not only drop Watson’s cap number over the next two years that he will still be on the roster, but it will backload his cap hits when he is off the roster. The Browns added what is called a “dummy year” to Watson’s contract for them to push out the dead money one year further into the future.
Teams are only allowed to accelerate void years out two years if a player is cut before their contract expires, so by adding this “dummy year” it allows the Browns to push out the dead money out.
What this does mean, however, is that Watson will be on the roster through the 2026 season. But that is a relative term as the Browns will work to do whatever they can to keep him away from the team. Recovering from an achilles injury, the Browns will likely look to keep Watson on the PUP list for as long as possible next year.
In 2026 then, the Browns may just do what the Houston Texans did to him in 2021 and ask him to simply stay away from the team.
The OBR’s Jack Duffin is the cap expert and he predicts this means Watson’s cap hit will drop to $37.14 million from about $73 million in 2025, and $46.1 million in 2026. That is a ton of money to pay for a quarterback who likely never takes the field again, but it is the only way to spend money in free agency.
After this move, the Browns’ cap space will jump from $17 million in the red to about $28 million in the positive. This is without any other moves. That one move along clears about $45 million.
Sure, that means the Browns will have to pay cap hits of $35.8 million in 2026 and $53.68 million in 2027 when Watson is not on the roster, but given the rise of the salary cap, the percentage of the cap hit will be relatively minimal compared to where it would have been had the Browns opted to take their medicine and just part ways.
The salary cap is expected to rise by at least $60 million by 2027.
Is this the ideal situation for the Browns? No. Is it a necessary evil to try and keep the ship afloat and get back to the playoffs in the immediate future (which is one of Myles Garrett’s demands)? Yes.
The front office got themselves into this mess in the first place, so they do not deserve credit for duct taping this thing together, but these are the necessary moves to make today.
