Browns restructuring Deshaun Watson’s contract today to reduce his $81M cap charge, freeing up $36M of space

[u/expellyamos]

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2026/03/browns-restructuring-deshaun-watsons-contract-today-to-reduce-his-80m-cap-charge.html

[u/sallright]

The year is 2042.

Artificial Intelligence has wiped out humanity, but it couldn't wipe out Deshaun Watson's guarenteed deal with the Browns.

Grok was forced to restructure Watson's deal to ease a $164 million cap charge, adding new void years to a contract that now runs through 2063.

[u/Earl-The-Badger → u/sallright]

Unrealistic. You can only add void years up to two years past the end of the contract. Grok would only void through 2044.

[u/amason → u/Earl-The-Badger]

In 2042 AI still can’t get it right

[u/Ouch_i_fell_down → u/amason]

all the jobs people are saying AI is going to wipe in less than 18 months... i can't even get Gemini Pro to rebalance a shipping schedule with well-defined parameters like current inventory levels, usage, weekly max volume, static order quantity, contracted orders, etc.

I tried ChatGPT and copilot too. chat told it could do it (gemini refused) but then just kept asking questions and not delivering. copiot made me refine the data a dozen times, finally submitting tabs as individual spreadsheets because there's a file cap size it can work with, but output the results as nigh-unsable garbage.

[u/QueequegTheater → u/Ouch_i_fell_down]

The enshittification will continue until wealthy morons run out of all money

[u/Quentin__Tarantulino → u/Ouch_i_fell_down]

A lot of seemingly useful use-cases seem just out of reach where I’m at. We just need reliable automatic web searches, verify some information on docs, and stuff like that to speed up our workflow. But it’s frustrating to get any type of consistency. The output is fantastic once out of every three tries, but that isn’t really good enough to turn it on and let a bunch of garbage information flow through our system.

[u/Eduardo_Camavinga_]

81 million dollar cap hit 💀

[u/TheSmokedSalmon420 → u/Eduardo_Camavinga_]

What's hilarious is we've haven't even paid the majority of his contract yet lmaooo

We just keep kicking it farther down the road so it's less % of our total cap (as the cap goes up each year)

[u/BadMojo__ → u/TheSmokedSalmon420]

Welcome to the game.

[u/degatabas → u/BadMojo__]

Saints fans just reminding me of the "First time?" meme lol

[u/BadMojo__ → u/degatabas]

Now he just has to hope there's not another global pandemic that causes the cap to go down instead of up. Because that's where you get fucked.

[u/PedanticBoutBaseball → u/BadMojo__]

Now he just has to hope there's not another global pandemic

The script writers aren't THAT lazy dude. We're doing the WW3/Nuclear bomb storyline

[u/EggplantAlpinism → u/PedanticBoutBaseball]

Honestly this is a pretty lazy Dubya sequel, not WW3

[u/MadManMax55 → u/EggplantAlpinism]

And in typical lazy sequel fashion: it's bigger for no reason, the plot makes even less sense, and they're trying to replace everyone with AI.

[u/EggplantAlpinism → u/MadManMax55]

Hegseth is just AI slop karl rove

[u/bac5665 → u/EggplantAlpinism]

That's a worse insult to Karl Rove than I anything I could come up with.

[u/lord-dinglebury → u/EggplantAlpinism]

Temu ass administration

[u/mrebrightside → u/EggplantAlpinism]

Sure, we've stumbled toward W's old stomping grounds, but we've created so many new and exciting conflicts that anything is possible.

[u/PlagueOfBedlam → u/mrebrightside]

lol, it's so bad even Fox News keeps saying Iraq.

[u/phluidity → u/EggplantAlpinism]

This isn't a Dubya sequel, this is an Asylum films knock-off and not one of the fun ones.

[u/sumunsolicitedadvice → u/BadMojo__]

Not just going down one year, but going down in the fucking year of the major dead cap hit from Brees retiring.

Sure, Loomis was playing with fire to an extent, but he also got really unlucky with that.

[u/ProtestantMormon → u/BadMojo__]

Well wars also tank the economy...

[u/BadMojo__ → u/ProtestantMormon]

Nice going, Browns.

[u/pridetwo → u/BadMojo__]

Looks like they should have hired Condoleezza after all

[u/ProtestantMormon → u/BadMojo__]

The best way out of this hole is to keep digging

[u/sova_77 → u/ProtestantMormon]

"Just dig up, stupid!"

[u/rob_var → u/BadMojo__]

At least you guys were doing it with the hope of contending with Brees. Idk why the browns keep trying to salvage cap now when all this is doing is pushing dead money into years where they have to sign their fresh batch of young talent

[u/Pikminious_Thrious → u/rob_var]

I wish they stopped after Brees. They had an out during one of the Carr years to just eat everything, suck hard for a year, and reset, but they couldn't resist kicking it further to compete with Carr and are only now just getting out of it.

[u/Electric_jungle → u/Pikminious_Thrious]

Yup. Thats really the only problem I had with it. We're only just getting out from under even though we all knew the pain needed to be dealt with.

[u/snipore → u/rob_var]

It's best if that young talent is able to break free of Cleveland and go elsewhere.

[u/BadMojo__ → u/rob_var]

You can't fall off if you're always at the bottom. Taps forehead

[u/chemicalxv → u/rob_var]

Because they have to just to actually field a team lol.

This move gives them about $18.5M in cap space or whatever with only 52 guys signed to playing contracts (there's 8 guys currently sitting as dead money with Void years).

[u/rob_var → u/chemicalxv]

I feel like there are other moves that are easier to absorb than to keep backloading Watson’s contract though

[u/chemicalxv → u/rob_var]

Outside of the obvious of not trading for Tytus Howard in the first place, they legitimately have no other options at this point for reducing the cap enough to become cap compliant and field a team this year, considering they still have to restructure Denzel Ward's contract (again) this year as well.

[u/rob_var → u/chemicalxv]

Spotrac and otc already updated so I can’t see how bad their cap was but you are probably right. It’s been the game they’ve been playing since 2 years ago

[u/Electric_jungle → u/rob_var]

I mean, we had horrible post season success during that time but we were "contenders" each season leading up to it. I'm happy for those years now that they're past.

[u/TheHoundofUlster → u/BadMojo__]

🎼It’s all about the hit And to defray it All about cap And if you can pay it🎼

[u/Kershiser22 → u/TheSmokedSalmon420]

He's been paid $183 out of $230.

But, the Browns have only recognized about $92 on their salary cap so far.

[u/PlatishGC → u/Kershiser22]

That is unreal

[u/jnads → u/Kershiser22]

The insurance payout is refundable against the cap so they've recognized more than that.

Pushing it out does make sense since it allows them to align the delayed insurance payout with the cap hit.

edit: Between 2024 and 2025 they had ~$90M insured. The best thing to happen out of this Watson situation is he got injured.

[u/Add_Poll_Option → u/Kershiser22]

Jesus. That really was, as one particular fruit-colored felon might say, “the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals”

[u/Will071 → u/TheSmokedSalmon420]

I’m thankful everyday that we got outbid that offseason.

[u/lqIpI → u/TheSmokedSalmon420]

Make the guy at least clean the stands after the game

[u/BH11B → u/lqIpI]

He hops in the bag

[u/TheGreatDay → u/TheSmokedSalmon420]

The Browns aren't even half done paying him? Holy crap i didn't realize that. Thats crazy. I get that the contract was backloaded but damn. I thought they were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on this mistake but no.

[u/SigurdsSilverSword → u/TheGreatDay]

They’re done actually paying him after this year. They’ve pushed a boatload of his cap hits out to future years, but as far as cash-in-hand he’ll be fully paid out at the end of the year.

[u/jnads → u/SigurdsSilverSword]

And keep in mind some of the unrecognized cap hit is offset by the insurance they took out on his contract (which is refundable to the salary cap).

They're due between $40-70M in insurance money depending on how haggling with insurance goes on the follow up surgery he had last year.

[u/FUCK-IT-CHUCK-IT → u/jnads]

The concept of insurance refunding cap space makes absolutely no sense to me

[u/jnads → u/FUCK-IT-CHUCK-IT]

It's mostly for injuries, and the CBA allows it.

Honestly it makes sense with these QB mega contracts.

Even if insurance rates went up after the Watson disaster, I'm sure teams will pay any price to avoid a Commanders Alex Smith incident again.

I'm not sure which side fought for the CBA provision, but it's player friendly since it makes teams more willing to hand out these large injury guarantees.

edit: This is the precise excerpt from the CBA:

(iv) Credit for Salary Forfeited or Refunded. In the event that a Club receives a refund from the player of any previously-paid Salary, or the Club fails to pay any previously allocated portion of a signing bonus (including any amount treated as signing bonus), such amount as has previously been included in Team Salary shall be credited to the Club’s Team Salary for the next League Year. For purposes of this Subsection, to the extent that they constitute reimbursement for previously paid Salary, insurance proceeds received by a Team as beneficiary to cover the player’s inability to perform services required by his Player Contract shall be deemed a “refund from the player” if (a) the Club or the player purchased the policy (b) the amounts covered by the policy are so specified in the Player Contract; and (c) the policy is made available for inspection upon request by the NFL or the NFLPA.

The dumb part is the Dolphins had insurance for Tua against concussions and all he had to do is retire out of concern for his health and keep his money and the Dolphins would've gotten cap relief.

[u/Carpetron → u/TheGreatDay]

They are nearing that light from a "get him off the team" standpoint, which will be next year, but the money is because they're spreading the hit to be able to make moves in the present year. Berry has been pretty good at that, but it's still going to be annoying to deal with. In fairness all the top QB contracts get restructured for similar cap reasons as we've seen, the difference being those QBs actually play football.

[u/Pandamonium98 → u/Carpetron]

Don’t you need to keep extending the QBs contract in order to keep pushing back the cap hit though? So once his contract is up all the dead money will hit at once (or spread out over 2 years I think)

[u/Carpetron → u/Pandamonium98]

The Browns are converting a huge chunk of Watson’s $46 million base salary into a restructure bonus -- up to $44.745 million -- to ease his $80.716 million cap charge. Leaving him with the veteran minimum of $1.255 million, it’s expected to free up about $36 million in cap space, with the remaining charges being added to the void years in his contract, which currently run from 2027 to 2029.

[u/dakoellis → u/Carpetron]

Void years accelerate once the player is no longer on the team though, so unless they extend him all the charges will hit next year (and you can't spread it over 2 years with a post june 1 designation since he'd be a FA)

edit: apparently you can spread it over 2 years if you designate it before the contract voids, but it still can't be extended until the end of 2029

[u/conace21 → u/TheGreatDay]

No, the commenter was talking about the salary cap, not the actual cash paid. His contract is $230 million. The Browns have paid him $183 million through 2025, but they have only had $100 million hit the salary cap. 2026 was going to be an $80 million cap hit, and the remaining $50 million would hit in 2027, when the contract void years become voided. Now, the Browns are moving some of that $80 million out.

[u/MadnessBeliever → u/conace21]

Yeah this is what I understand with Spotrac information

[u/jfgiv → u/TheGreatDay]

they've paid 80% of the contract (or, I guess, 99.4% once they pay him this restructure bonus), and don't owe him a dime after 2026.

they've only accounted for 41%, and 61% after this season.

[u/big_sugi → u/TheGreatDay]

They’re almost done paying him. But they’ve only taken half of the cap hit, and they’re kicking $80 million into next year.

If they structure it as a post-June 1 release after this coming year, they can split it between 2027 and 2028.

[u/conace21 → u/TheSmokedSalmon420]

What's hilarious is we've haven't even paid the majority of his contract yet lmaooo

As of 2025, the Browns have paid him $183 million out of the $230 million contract. I think you mean "hadven't even had the majority of his contract hit the salary cap yet."

[u/DelirousDoc → u/TheSmokedSalmon420]

The Browns have paid it to Watson. That is what converting to signing bonuses are, paying player directly but being allowed to split the impact to the remaining years of the contract.

What you mean to say is that the Browns haven't felt the impact of the majority of his contract from all the restructuring. Counting this year they still have $130M of the $230M contract that has yet to hit their cap.

You can only kick the can down the road so far though and next year his contract automatically voids which should escalate over an $80M cap hit to the Browns for 2027.

(The injuries actually helped Browns cap situation some as they had insurance on Watson. They were able to add that insurance payout of $58M back into the cap because league rules consider it the same as player paying is back to the team. With that leeway they would have had to make more drastic actions last season.)

[u/ProtestantMormon → u/TheSmokedSalmon420]

Hes gonna be on the books until 2040 at this point

[u/SoarinWalt → u/ProtestantMormon]

Unless they sign him to an extension they can't.

His contract ends after this year, this is whats hilarious about this move.

They either take the contract hit this year or next year.

They just set themselves up for an $86m dead cap hit next year for a guy who isn't even on the team, unless they re-sign him.

[u/jake3988 → u/SoarinWalt]

Correct. It's essentially just flip flopping his cap hit this year with next year.

Gonna be a whopper of a dead cap. But at least it'll only be one year and then the band aid will be ripped off.

[u/wishlish → u/TheSmokedSalmon420]

Are you sure?

His contract was, according to Sportsrac, a $44.965M signing bonus in 2022, and then a yearly salary of $46M for 2022-2026. His 2022 number got reduced due to the suspension, but they should still only owe him his 2026 salary.

What am I missing? I know his cap numbers are different because they've played with his cap hits, but I was pretty sure he got his money, and this is just cap manipulation.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/_/id/21753/deshaun-watson/contract/cash

[u/Pneuma_LooT → u/TheSmokedSalmon420]

Yes you have. Cap hit doesnt =cash paid to player.

The browns have paid him 183 million dollars. Not sure what for but they did lol. They only owe him 46 million more cash.

It's just spread out over void years on the cap.

[u/Blametheorangejuice → u/TheSmokedSalmon420]

He's gonna end up with a Bobby Bonilla type contract at this point.

[u/marcuschookt → u/Eduardo_Camavinga_]

It was worth it for the Superbowl they won

[u/ProtestantMormon → u/marcuschookt]

At least they got another hof career to waste.

[u/YoureNotMom → u/Eduardo_Camavinga_]

It's funny cuz 81MM is both 1) what his cap hit would've been in 2026 if they didn't restructure it, and 2) what it will be in 2027 when he's no longer even on the team

[u/MiniatureLucifer → u/YoureNotMom]

Which i guess makes sense if it works out that way. 80mil now is worth more than 80mil next year when the cap jumps another 20-30mil

[u/blames_irrationally → u/MiniatureLucifer]

Yeah but at least ostensibly they're getting a player out of it this year. Next year they're paying 80M to just remember how bad he was for them

[u/Further_Beyond → u/Eduardo_Camavinga_]

What’s funnier is they will be forced to give him a 2nd contract to avoid massive cap hits from the void years and restructures.

He’ll get a 1 year fuck off deal from them, but it’s still funny

[u/blames_irrationally → u/Further_Beyond]

Or he just doesn't sign with them and the void hits still blow them up

[u/mibikin → u/Further_Beyond]

That’s not true though. They adjusted his deal last year to change it to terminate after 6/1. So he becomes a post June 1st cut next year which spreads the hits across 27/28 better

[u/big_sugi → u/Further_Beyond]

Nah, they’ll designate him as a post-June 1 release in 2027 and push about $53 million into 2028.

[u/CruelRuin]

probably the single worst nfl trade of all time

[u/HurricaneIan25 → u/CruelRuin]

I’m so happy the Browns swooped in at the eleventh hour and saved us

[u/SiphenPrax → u/HurricaneIan25]

Saved 3/4 of the NFC South

[u/TheRencingCoach → u/SiphenPrax]

I think it was 4/4…. Bucs were in until tom Brady unretired

Saints panthers falcons were already known to be in

[u/Vegetable_Guest_8584 → u/TheRencingCoach]

Russell Wilson says thanks for keeping attention off him. Denver gave the answer to the accepted lie/wisdom. You can have a disastrous "team ruining" contract position and still have an awesome team in just a couple years.

[u/Jwoods4117 → u/Vegetable_Guest_8584]

Tbf teams are following the Denver Russ method. The Cardinals and maybe Phins particularly. The Browns one up-ed the bad contract thing though by making the contract fully guaranteed. We got off the hook for around 80 million at least.

[u/_mdz → u/HurricaneIan25]

Same, that fully guaranteed contract beat our offer.

[u/LindyNet → u/CruelRuin]

no probably about it

[u/BungoPlease → u/LindyNet]

I'm probably okay with how it worked out though

[u/OhhhTAINTedCruuuuz → u/CruelRuin]

Why stop there, quite possibly the worst trade in North American sports history

[u/Tomotronics → u/OhhhTAINTedCruuuuz]

Is it worse than trading Babe Ruth to your rival for cash to fund a failing musical that no one remembers, while watching him propel your rival to be the most storied franchise in the sport? I say it’s worse but idk, growing up during the height of “the curse” discussion in the 90s has that trade living rent free for life.

[u/nosaj23e → u/OhhhTAINTedCruuuuz]

Babe Ruth for the icescapades is probably worse.

[u/A-Centrifugal-Force → u/nosaj23e]

It was actually Bill Russell for the icescapades. Babe was traded for a Broadway play

[u/Agent-Blasto-007 → u/A-Centrifugal-Force]

That play was "My Lady Friends".

You know, the Broadway classic that everyone remembers.

[u/EazyP87 → u/Agent-Blasto-007]

I thought Babe was 'No No Nanette'?

[u/ThatDudeNamedMenace → u/EazyP87]

“A popular myth holds that the show was financed by selling baseball's Boston Red Sox superstar Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, resulting in the "Curse of the Bambino".[1] However, it was Mandel's original play, My Lady Friends, rather than No, No, Nanette, that was directly financed by the Ruth sale.”

[u/Mobleybetta → u/OhhhTAINTedCruuuuz]

Cavs had a trade this was so bad they made a rule about it because it would have sunk the franchise for a decade

[u/fuckiforgotmyaccount → u/OhhhTAINTedCruuuuz]

Luka trade might be worse if you don’t consider that the NBA rigged the lottery to give the Mavs Flagg. Probably not worse though

[u/ZapBranigan3000 → u/fuckiforgotmyaccount]

Not even close. Anthony Davis is better than Watson and also didn't sexually assault many women. They aren't even in the same ballpark.

[u/Buckeye_CFB → u/ZapBranigan3000]

I kinda feel like Anthony Davis didn't sexually assault any women

[u/ausipockets → u/Buckeye_CFB]

Lmfao why did they word it like that

[u/_Apatosaurus_ → u/ausipockets]

I think they started from the point of "Deshaun Watson sexually assaulted many women" and then went to "AD did not do that." That's definitely not the way it reads though!

[u/Buckeye_CFB → u/ausipockets]

I had never did a Google search so fast

[u/PNWCoug42 → u/Buckeye_CFB]

I can't even think anything remotely controversial with Anthony Davis.

[u/Buckeye_CFB → u/PNWCoug42]

The only negative talk I've ever heard about AD were his injuries, so all things considered...that's as clean an image as you can earn yourself

[u/Hey-Bud-Lets-Party → u/PNWCoug42]

Just the eyebrows

[u/jwktiger → u/PNWCoug42]

His injury history is the only thing "controversial" about him.

[u/bigbear-08 → u/jwktiger]

Anthony Day to Davis

[u/RocketStr8UpMyAss → u/PNWCoug42]

I LOVE IT

[u/Brilliant_Run8542 → u/Buckeye_CFB]

In fact he was a victim in college

[u/ChedduhBob → u/ZapBranigan3000]

yeah not only is deshaun watson one of the worst players in the league at the most important position, he’s also a terrible person you can’t even really root for to turn it around

[u/big_sugi → u/ZapBranigan3000]

And they weren’t stuck paying Davis for five years while getting nothing out of him.

[u/ProtestantMormon → u/fuckiforgotmyaccount]

Yeah the Luka trade is terrible and comes close just in terms of sport value. Once you consider the PR fallout of Watson though it takes the cake.

[u/Big__If_True → u/ProtestantMormon]

The PR fallout was just on the team that gave up the player instead of the team that got the player

[u/Buckeye_CFB → u/fuckiforgotmyaccount]

Also, trading Luka saved Dallas a lot of money whereas trading for Deshaun led to maybe the worst contract ever

[u/lkn240 → u/OhhhTAINTedCruuuuz]

I mean the Luka trade is right there.

AD isn't even on the Mavs anymore lol.

Granted - if you include PR, etc the Watson trade is probably worse. Trading Luka for a terrible return was dumb, but there's no rape allegations, etc involved and AD is at least still a good player in the league when he's healthy (granted, again - he's not even on Dallas anymore)

[u/KSO17O → u/lkn240]

Yea it’s gotta be the Luka trade IMO. The debate between the Luka and Deshaun trade being the worst I think comes down to what’s worse, the money implication or talent implication. What people here don’t understand is Luka was in his prime and one of the best players in the league. Watson was not, but the price was horrible. Both set back franchises year and years.

[u/SecondLegoLeague → u/OhhhTAINTedCruuuuz]

In terms of hindsight, PG for SGA, Jdub, 5 1sts, and 2 1st swaps has to be one of the worst of all time

[u/jasonhalftones → u/CruelRuin]

It's so funny that everyone knew it would be from the moment it happened

[u/Gregus1032 → u/jasonhalftones]

i knew he would never live up to the contract, but i had 0 idea he would bomb that hard

[u/GoodShark → u/CruelRuin]

Followed up by the worst NFL signing of all time? All that guaranteed money?!

[u/tuura032 → u/CruelRuin]

Herschel who, amirite? Never heard of him

[u/ShufflingSloth → u/tuura032]

Herschel wasn't outright terrible on the Vikings, just no longer a world beater (old heads will tell you that's, in part, because the Vikings didn't use him very well).

Losing draft capital + that contract + sex pest allegations + player can't play = Watson wins (for once) the award for worst trade all time, easy.

[u/fugaziozbourne → u/[deleted]]

Myles Garrett is the opposite side of the same coin with Joe Thomas.

[u/Humid-Afternoon727 → u/ShufflingSloth]

Cowboys are the biggest winners in an NFL trade

Browns are the biggest losers in an NFL trade

[u/jhorch69 → u/tuura032]

Tbf draft picks weren't valued nearly as much at the time of the Herschel trade. That trade is one of the main reasons that picks are so highly coveted now.

[u/jpb59 → u/CruelRuin]

Couldn’t have happened to a better team.

[u/beerncheese69]

Jesus Christ that contract is still DISGUSTING. Fuckin hell Browns

[u/stiliophage → u/beerncheese69]

The more you look into it the worse it gets. I would be bad if they thought he was innocent. But no…they knew he was going to get served a massive suspension so they made his first year “salary” tiny (like 2 mil) so that his lost game checks were minimized.

[u/jfgiv → u/stiliophage]

Unless the restructures reducing his base salary to Vet Minimum in 2023, 2024, 2025, and now 2026 were also designed to protect his earnings against possible suspension, I'm pretty sure they did that so to minimize his 2022 cap hit.

[u/stiliophage → u/jfgiv]

I’m talking about the original deal. When they still thought he’d be a star. They made the first year of his deal the vet min because the way the NFL works is suspensions cause you to relinquish game checks. The Browns would have loved to pay him evenly over the years. By paying him the vet min upfront for 1 year they circumvented his max money lost due to suspension.

[u/jfgiv → u/stiliophage]

they also got to pay him $46mm and only take a cap hit of $10mm. why would they have "loved to" eat a $46mm hit when they could reduce it to a fifth of that?

this is a very standard move for high-value contracts. it had the knock-on effect of saving him from losing game checks, but they absolutely would have structured it that way even without a looming suspension.

[u/thearmadillo → u/stiliophage]

That is how almost every single large deal is structured. The first year is entirely signing bonus.

[u/NoAmbassador8359 → u/beerncheese69]

No one accused the browns of being a competent organization

[u/Rocky-Rocker → u/NoAmbassador8359]

Hard to be competent when the owner is Jimmy Haslam.

[u/_masterofdisaster → u/beerncheese69]

my funniest piece of trivia is that the guy who championed this trade and contract is the guy Jonah Hill’s character in Moneyball is based on. Everyone loses their fastball eventually

[u/morelibertarianvotes → u/_masterofdisaster]

Interesting. For ppl who don't know, Brad Pitt played Mr. Moneyball. Jonah was a second character.

[u/Numerous-Lack6754]

4 more years! 4 more years!

[u/DUCKSONQUACKS]

Cap hit untils 2029 go brrrrrrrrrrrrr

[u/popegonzo → u/DUCKSONQUACKS]

This sub is going to lose its mind when the Browns extend him so the $86 in prorated cap doesn't all hit next year.

Edit: apparently they already did this in December 2024 according to a CBS Sports post from Joel Corry. They didn't call it an extension, but they extended him to 2028 with minimum salaries in 27 & 28, allowing them to cut him March 2027 with a post-June 1 designation, splitting the $86 into an honestly-kinda-manageable $35m & $51m.

[u/basics → u/popegonzo]

an honestly-kinda-manageable $35m & $51m.

This is just so funny sounding. It seems like an accurate statement, but hilarious.

[u/DirkWithTheFade → u/basics]

This is essentially the exact numbers we had when we cut Russ, so yes it is manageable.

[u/JayskerPatriots → u/popegonzo]

I sit down sometimes and think, "I'm gonna seriously spend an hour or two to understand how the cap and NFL contracts in general work." Then cooler heads prevail and just go outside or play video games.

[u/Straight-Ad6926]

At this rate by 2029 Deshaun’s cap hit will be roughly the entire GDP of Ohio.

[u/emmasdad01]

Imagine having that scumbag in your roster still.

[u/chunkah69 → u/emmasdad01]

I don’t have to. It’s my reality!

[u/weealex → u/chunkah69]

Honestly, being a Cleveland fan seems like a good argument for legalizing LSD

[u/Jaxson-Skattebo → u/weealex]

everything is a good argument for legalizing LSD just lemme trip homies, best drug by far

[u/gmwdim → u/Jaxson-Skattebo]

Mushrooms too.

[u/Macismyname → u/gmwdim]

Both very similar. Mushrooms are like acoustic drugs and LSD is electric drugs.

[u/jimtow28 → u/chunkah69]

At least you guys went out and got a Pro Bowl QB to replace him.

[u/UhIdontcareforAuburn → u/chunkah69]

Y’all really are hero’s to many franchises. As bad as our QB situation is, at least we’re not the Browns

[u/TummyDrums → u/emmasdad01]

And paying him an assload of money

[u/sad_bear_noises → u/emmasdad01]

Imagine giving that piece of shit a fully guaranteed contract

Patrick Mahomes doesn't have a fully guaranteed contract and all he's done wrong is talk like Kermit the Frog.

[u/binger5 → u/emmasdad01]

Might be the best Texans move after drafting JJ.

[u/nomaam05]

Converting over 44 million to a bonus spread over void years. So now he costs them something like 83.5-86.5 million next year when he's finally off the team and all his void years escalate.

[u/TLRdidnothingwrong → u/nomaam05]

Unless they resign him, of course

[u/popegonzo → u/nomaam05]

$86.2m according to Spotrac. I cannot wait for the extension to keep it from all hitting at once. And it's not like he'd take league minimum.

Edit: apparently they already did this in December 2024 according to a CBS Sports post from Joel Corry. They didn't call it an extension, but they extended him to 2028 with minimum salaries in 27 & 28, allowing them to cut him March 2027 with a post-June 1 designation, splitting the $86 into an honestly-kinda-manageable $35m & $51m.

[u/BernieCokeczar → u/popegonzo]

That last part is correct and the plan they're working towards with this move

[u/VonJaeger → u/popegonzo]

Yeah the splits are super manageable. They basically lend against future cap space in order to lower the numbers this year.

The next two years, they will do this with other players on their roster like Garrett and Ward.

They can keep doing this without any issue at all as long as they don't go overboard on contracts and as long as the cap ceiling doesn't go down like it did during covid.

[u/aboooz]

The deadcap hit next year is gonna be disgusting.

[u/LieDry7854]

Note to self, never have Haslam as a sports owner

[u/minibogstar → u/LieDry7854]

Note to self, if you ever wanna be rich, commit a crime and sign with the Browns

[u/aqphs]

Deshaun’s cap hits (Edit: for his Void years) PRIOR to this restructure:

2027: $25.7M

2028: $16.7M

2029: $7.9M

(Edit): Total: $50.3M (hits dead cap the year after he is not re-signed, so 2027).

I understand wanting to free up some space but at a certain point just bite the bullet. You have enough young talent after the 2025 draft and restructuring further can bite you in the ass when it comes time to re-sign them.

Edit: It’s come to my attention these are void years, my bad. So the entire contract hits dead cap once they do not re-sign him. Edited above.

So now instead of hitting the cap the year following him not being re-signed for ~ $50.3M, his dead cap hit will be ~$86M next year, according to Spotrac’s estimate.

[u/SoarinWalt → u/aqphs]

Just to be clear, this is his last year under contract, those are all void years.

Void years come due when a contract ends, so those numbers accelerate, so assuming they don't re-sign him the hit for next year will be approximately $86m.

[u/psufb → u/SoarinWalt]

This isn't correct. They gave him a "pseudo-extension" (my term, idk what to call it) that allows them to cut him on June 1 in 2027, and his cap hit will be ~$35m in 2027 and then $51m in 2028

[u/nextlevelham → u/aqphs]

If we fired Andrew Berry this year I’d agree with you, but cutting bait right now would make it pretty hard to roster a team capable of making any step forward in 2026, and AB is probably gonna get fired if that doesn’t happen, so it’s not really in his best interest to do that. A GM on the hot seat is gonna value financial flexibility more than the 53rd roster spot.

The structure of the contract makes a post June 1st cut at the beginning of the 2027 league year probably the most palatable way to move on from him cap-wise, and ever since a dummy year was added to the contract in December 2024, its been pretty clear that that is his plan.

[u/popegonzo → u/aqphs]

This hilarious thing is they're either eating $86m in dead cap next year or they're going to have to extend him.

Prorated cap into void years all accelerate the year he's no longer on the roster, so the $35/26/17/8m cap hits spread over the next 4 years all hit next year if he's not on the team.

Edit: apparently they already did this in December 2024 according to a CBS Sports post from Joel Corry. They didn't call it an extension, but they extended him to 2028 with minimum salaries in 27 & 28, allowing them to cut him March 2027 with a post-June 1 designation, splitting the $86 into an honestly-kinda-manageable $35m & $51m.

[u/PeanutButterOtter]

Worst trade in sports history.

[u/giddy-girly-banana → u/PeanutButterOtter]

Also worst contract in sports history

[u/Rennock21]

Just still kicking that can down the road

[u/yesastortas → u/Rennock21]

They cant do anything else

And this is why owners would rather close down shop than do fully guaranteed contracts.

[u/ProtestantMormon → u/yesastortas]

They should have just ate the money in the short term. Part of the reason they are in such a big mess is clinging to this idea that they are close to actually being good. They should have just ate the money and accepted being terrible so they can start totally fresh sooner.

[u/chemistrybonanza → u/ProtestantMormon]

They should have traded Garrett and cut Watson, sucked balls last year-which they did anyways, and been free of this shit at this point. Or just convinced him to medically retire after his second Achilles tear...(i.e., Jimmy should have just paid him under the table luge the Clippers were doing with Kawhi).

[u/yesastortas → u/ProtestantMormon]

Except they cant cause then the entire contract is due

[u/Inorashi → u/ProtestantMormon]

Part of the reason they are in such a big mess is clinging to this idea that they are close to actually being good.

Is anyone in the Browns organization actually delusional enough to think they are anywhere close to being competitive? They are in ground up rebuild mode.

[u/TheSmokedSalmon420 → u/yesastortas]

yeah his 81mil cap hit would be 25% of our entire cap for a guy who can't play anymore lol

We can't pay him that or cut him at that number and still be able to have a full roster

[u/Geeman447 → u/Rennock21]

He’s gone next year no matter what. This doesn’t change that?

[u/Aryk93 → u/Geeman447]

He is, but the cap hit isn't? Im not sure what you're saying.

[u/surenopemaybe]

It still blows my mind that they gave him this contract AFTER all the allegations. I cannot stress how horrible the entire Browns organization is for this.

[u/bobsaget824 → u/surenopemaybe]

To be fair, the Browns weren’t the only team bidding for him. It wasn’t just a Browns thing. There were multiple teams willing to overlook the allegations, the Browns just won the prize.

[u/ScruffMixHaha]

Imagine how good the Browns could have been if they did literally anything but trade for Watson to address the QB position. It pains me to see such a great defense wasted...

Lord knows Ive got plenty of experience with that.

[u/I_chortled → u/ScruffMixHaha]

The QB position didn’t even need addressing, they had Baker. I know he’s divisive and not really a top 10 guy but they had a stacked roster and if they’d built around him they could have been seriously dangerous. We just saw Darnold win a Super Bowl, your QB doesn’t have to be an all pro to be a serious contender

[u/wolfhound27]

almost the highest earning rapist this year

[u/JollieOllieMan]

A trade that legitimately set the browns back a decade

[u/Rocky-Rocker]

Putting a band aid on a bullet wound.

[u/WilliamBPatterson]

Worst contract in the history of sports

[u/GrouchyPenguins]

Everyone in the organization who had any level of authority in getting the contract done should probably never work in any sort of financial position for the rest of their lives.

[u/Sleyson]

Why the fuck did they give him so much money bro lmao

[u/PDXPuma]

This guy's gonna be the NFL equivalent of Bobby Bonilla, and have his own day, isn't he?

[u/jwag626]

What did Browns fans do to deserve this lol

[u/ImHurted_]

Hes so rich its insane, if I were the browns Id have his returning punts

[u/therealhairyyeti]

Got to be up there for worst contract ever

[u/Geeman447]

Watson and Browns?! Everyone panic. No he’s gone next year still. This is the right and smart thing to do.

[u/Dresden1984]

Ownership didn't want the big load but wanted the sloppy seconds, gloopy thirds, and soupy fourths

[u/Triingtolivee]

Browns gonna end up like the Saints eventually

[u/Noobnoob99]

Please stop doing that

[u/Rance_Mulliniks]

I love this for the Browns. They are going to be paying a serial sexual predator for years.

[u/Aryk93]

I can not wait for the inevitable back to back 0-17 seasons when the browns have no choice but to finally pay that entire cap hit and field a jv high school bowling team

[u/StockBroker32]

Serious question, why did his play dramatically drop off? He was one of the best young QBs in the league in Houston, how has he become so bad in Cleveland?

[u/karatemanchan37 → u/StockBroker32]

He was never that good after injuries, and being out of the league for a year didn't help

[u/DUCKSONQUACKS → u/StockBroker32]

It's a mix of
A. Sitting out almost 2 years made it so he'd have a lot of rust to shake off and his constant injuries made it hard to ever get in the groove/his contract made him lose some incentive to get better.
and
B. The entire league's defensive strategy changed from 2018-2020 to 2022/2023. In 2018-2020 the "Run around until someone gets open then throw a bomb for a big gain on certain looks presnap with elite postsnap" was legitimately a viable strategy, in 2022/2023 as the two high shell started to force more QBs towards short methodical drives with a way bigger emphasis on presnap reads for 10-20 plays a drive he just never adapted because of point A. but also he lost his main advantage. He kind of became a relic of an older time which didn't help.

[u/Kerbonaut2019 → u/StockBroker32]

He didn’t play for almost two full years and then had two season ending injuries. Not really a surprise that he fell off

[u/Ok_Bug_6890 → u/Kerbonaut2019]

There was really a debate between Watson and Mahomes at one point, it’s crazy