The Cleveland Browns are one of the league’s biggest spenders, making deals with players that push the team’s spending to levels above the salary cap by backloading the contract’s obligations for league purposes.
After Sunday’s debacle against the Dallas Cowboys, fans and analysts alike have panned the Browns for one contract in particular – Deshaun Watson’s five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed pact.
Before the season, Cleveland announced it restructured Watson’s contract yet again, further pushing the contract’s obligations toward the salary cap higher in future seasons.
Despite the doom-and-gloom predictions from analysts, the Browns’ salary cap situation is not as dire as fans are being led to believe according to one analyst.
In a recent article, analyst Jack Duffin explained that even with Watson’s huge salary cap numbers in 2025 and beyond, the Browns are still in a position to find a suitable replacement should the team move on from the beleaguered quarterback.
“If Watson struggles during the 2024 season either because of injury or play then you don’t cut him, that is a panic move and you end up with a dead cap of $172,734,000 next season,” Duffin explained.
Instead of making a knee-jerk reaction, the organization should instead keep Watson through 2025 to avoid eating all of that at once.
“How you do the above, is restructure his contract on the first day of the 2026 league year in March then on the second day you use a Post June 1st cut,” Duffin explained, adding,” So while he could spend the 2025 season as the most expensive backup quarterback in the league, you have no real salary cap issues.”
Cleveland is in this position after Watson’s disastrous debut on Sunday, a performance where he finished 24 of 45 with 169 yards passing, two interceptions, and one touchdown.
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