If it had just been that the Cleveland Browns‘ 2022 trade for Deshaun Watson, at a time when the Houston Texans did not want to keep him and when he was being sued by several women for sexual assault, was one of the most disastrous trades in NFL history, that would be one thing. The Browns gave up their 2022 first and fourth-round picks, their 2023 first and third-round picks, and their 2024 first and fourth-round picks, just to get Watson out of Houston.
But those picks are past. What made the Watson trade so utterly toxic is that, from there, the Browns gave Watson a fully guaranteed $230 million contract over five years. There was no out clause in case things went poorly.
And not only did they go poorly, but they went even worse than most could imagine–Browns fans know well that Watson has gone 9-10 as a starter in Cleveland. Nine wins … in four years. For that, Browns fans booed Watson on Saturday vs. Buffalo.
Deshaun Watson Still Owed $127 Million
Watson did not like the booing, and in his press conference after the game, criticized the crowd and ignited a war with all of Browns fandom. He does not want to be in Cleveland, clearly, and the fans do not want him there. But his contract makes that impossible.
Yes, the bookkeeping the final insult on the Watson deal. Despite their struggles with Watson, the Browns kept trying to win, rather than just eating his salary and setting up a better future. To keep the focus on the now, the Browns kept moving money into the future, so that more than half of Watson’s $230 million is still due as dead money on the books.
The Browns still owe him $127 million, for cap purposes. Even now, even after all Watson has cost the Browns, if they were to cut him before the start of this season and be rid of him, they would have $127 million to divvy up over two years.
Browns Might Want to Wash Their Hands of Deshaun Watson, But …
At Spotrac, contract guru Mike Ginnitti went through the Browns’ options and revealed the financial reality of the Watson disaster: He will keep infecting this franchise for the near future.
After Watson’s disastrous press conference on Saturday, the temptation is there to simply dump Watson now. But, Ginnitti writes, that means a $41 million hit this season and an unsustainable $86 million hit next season. He added, “This represents no cap change in 2026, but obviously a gut-wrenching hit to the 2027 books.”
The Browns could trade Watson, though no one is bending over backwards to acquire him. And even if that happens, the savings would be minimal–less than $2 million this year, with the full $86 million hitting next year.
Browns Will Make Move in March
And that $86 million is the Browns’ real problem, and it is the reason that they are hand-cuffed to Watson for this season. They can absorb the $41 million this year by moving around other money on the roster, but they can’t set themselves up with an $86 million grenade to next year’s books.
Ginnitti writes that keeping Watson on the roster through the league year, then designating him a “post June 1” cut when the 2027 league year opens is the only way to spread that cap hit.
If the Browns do that, Ginnitti notes, “Cleveland will carry a $36,008,514 cap hit into June, then take on dead hits of:
2027: $34,663,514
2028: $51,543,350.”
And Ginnitti explains there is a two-day window in which this will happen: “If Watson is on Cleveland’s roster on the 3rd league day of 2027 (March 13th), a $200M guarantee for the 2029 season becomes fully vested. We’re going to go out on a limb and assume this won’t be allowed to happen, but what can (and likely will) happen, is the Browns designating Watson a Post June 1st release somewhere between March 11th-12th.”
Browns’ Decision to Cut Deshaun Watson Has an $86 Million Problem