BIG NEWS: Cleveland Browns restructure Deshaun Watson’s deal to create more 2024 cap space
According to a league source, the Cleveland Browns restructured quarterback Deshaun Watson’s deal, freeing up $35.832 million in salary cap space.
According to Yates, Cleveland turned $44.79 million of Watson’s $46 million basic salary in 2024 into a signing bonus. The move gives the Browns the most cap room in the NFL, with more than $62 million available.
The Browns are likely to roll over the majority of their cap space to gain financial flexibility in the 2025 offseason, when they are already predicted to be $44 million above the cap, according to ESPN’s Roster Management System. Cleveland’s upcoming free agents are wide receivers Amari Cooper and Elijah Moore, running back Nick Chubb, and left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr.
In recent years, Cleveland has been aggressive in reworking high-priced player contracts to maintain short-term flexibility.
This is the Browns’ second contract adjustment for Watson, who signed an NFL record $230 million fully guaranteed deal after being traded from the Houston Texans in March 2022. The Browns saved nearly $36 million in cap space before free agency began in 2023 by reworking Watson’s contract and adding a void year.
Earlier in the summer, general manager Andrew Berry stated that he saw the Watson deal as a long-term commitment that extended beyond his initial contract.
While the Browns did not add any years to Watson’s contract, the restructure further ties them to the 28-year-old, with huge dead cap hits if they leave him before the deal expires. Watson will have cap hits of $72.9 million in 2025 and 2026, with $172 million and $99 million in dead cap hits, respectively.
In exchange for Watson, Cleveland traded three first-round draft selections to Houston. Watson has only appeared in 12 games for the Browns due to injuries from last season and his 2022 ban for breaking the NFL’s personal conduct code after more than two dozen women accused him of sexual assault and abusive behavior during massage sessions.
Watson, a three-time Pro Bowl pick in his first four seasons with the Texans, has a 41.9 QBR since his debut with the Browns, which is the NFL’s sixth-worst rating in that time period.
Watson rehabbed his throwing shoulder this offseason following season-ending surgery in November. After throwing every other day throughout the offseason exercise program, Watson participated in all but one training camp practice this summer. Watson did not play in the preseason and was limited in a practice last week due to arm pain, but he is expected to be available for the Browns’ season opener against the Dallas Cowboys on September 8.
