Browns GM Andrew Berry has been a wizard at working through cap space issues as the fifth-year executive often finds creative ways to spend the team’s money while also producing significant salary cap space each season.
Berry has done it again this year by restructuring quarterback Deshaun Watson’s contract.
Analyst Field Yates shared on X – the platform formerly known as Twitter – that Cleveland converted part of Watson’s payments into a signing bonus, yielding a large salary cap savings for the Browns.
“The Browns have restructured the contract of QB Deshaun Watson, converting $44.79M of his 2024 base salary into a signing bonus and creating $35.832M in cap space, per source,” Yates wrote on X, adding, “Cleveland now has over $62M in cap space, the most in the entire NFL.”
The Browns have restructured the contract of QB Deshaun Watson, converting $44.79M of his 2024 base salary into a signing bonus and creating $35.832M in cap space, per source.
Cleveland now has over $62M in cap space, the most in the entire NFL. pic.twitter.com/KC9hLWQDT8
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 29, 2024
The cap space Cleveland has is enough to trade for or sign multiple high-cost athletes during the season without going over the salary requirements the NFL sets for each team.
Watson and the Browns did the same thing last season, giving the team flexibility to add players to the roster without hurting the quarterback’s wallet throughout the regular season.
The move will help Cleveland attract interest from players seeking new contracts next season, especially if their current team is not interested in paying a top-ranked salary for the athlete.
Cleveland is not afraid to spend money, as evidenced by the organization consistently ranking among the highest salaries in the NFL while finding creative ways to reduce the salary cap impact on their franchise.
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