Deshaun Watson Contract Keeps Sinking the Browns

[Wild Turkey]

Terrible Deshaun Watson Contract Is Gift That Keeps On Taking

The Cleveland Browns restructured Deshaun Watson's contract which creates cap space this year but also diminishes cap space the next two years.

www.outkick.com

The team restructured the contract by taking his fully guaranteed base salary of $46 million and converting it to a bonus. This is a salary cap strategy that creates $35.79 million in cap space for the Browns now. So, in the short-term, it looks great for the team because it gives the Browns operating space to become salary cap compliant by the opening of the new league year on March 12. But the move comes with negative long-term effects. Because money shaved from the cap this year, on the front end, doesn't disappear. It gets added to ensuing years. That means the dead money hit for Watson in 2026, which was scheduled to be $99.5 million before Thursday, is now $135.4 million. His cap number, which was scheduled to be $54.8 million, will now be $81.6 million. And in 2027, when Watson is a free agent and predictably no longer on the team, the Browns will carry a $53.7 million cap charge for Watson. Because the savings they took this year prorates past the end of the deal into a void year.


This is a guy that really doesn't want to play football and probably won't see the field in 2025. I don't think its even debatable this is the worst contract in professional sports history.

 

[Mofo]

$135.4 million? Damn. I guess he and Justin Tucker won't have to set up the world's creepiest Onlyfans channel ever...

 

[Dolemite censored]

Terrible Deshaun Watson Contract Is Gift That Keeps On Taking

The Cleveland Browns restructured Deshaun Watson's contract which creates cap space this year but also diminishes cap space the next two years.

www.outkick.com

The team restructured the contract by taking his fully guaranteed base salary of $46 million and converting it to a bonus. This is a salary cap strategy that creates $35.79 million in cap space for the Browns now. So, in the short-term, it looks great for the team because it gives the Browns operating space to become salary cap compliant by the opening of the new league year on March 12. But the move comes with negative long-term effects. Because money shaved from the cap this year, on the front end, doesn't disappear. It gets added to ensuing years. That means the dead money hit for Watson in 2026, which was scheduled to be $99.5 million before Thursday, is now $135.4 million. His cap number, which was scheduled to be $54.8 million, will now be $81.6 million. And in 2027, when Watson is a free agent and predictably no longer on the team, the Browns will carry a $53.7 million cap charge for Watson. Because the savings they took this year prorates past the end of the deal into a void year.


This is a guy that really doesn't want to play football and probably won't see the field in 2025. I don't think its even debatable this is the worst contract in professional sports history.

Hopefully a bunch of people got fired for making that deal.

Kudos to Watson's agent for pulling that robbery off.