As it stands, the Cleveland Browns won’t have Deshaun Watson for the first six games of the 2022 NFL season.
That’s the recommendation from former federal judge Sue Robinson after the Pro Bowl quarterback was proven to have violated the league’s personal conduct policy.
However, the league can appeal that decision and the six games might increase.
Regardless of the final verdict, it’s difficult to see the judgment suddenly jumping from six games to an indefinite suspension.
Therefore, Cleveland will have Watson back at a certain time during the year.
It remains to be seen if the Browns are competing for a playoff spot once he returns.
What’s important, though, is that he gets to compete again after a layoff that stretches back to the 2021 season.
However, his 2022 salary is a point of contention because the media insists that his five-year, $230 million deal was structured as such to give Watson the chance to earn most of his money.
That’s why Cleveland sports veteran Daryl Ruiter had to set the record straight.
Dear national media, Please stop saying #Browns structured Watson's contract to minimize financial loss during a suspension. If you pay attention to how the team does business, ALL of their major contracts are structured this way: a massive signing bonus + min year 1 salary. https://t.co/yXaDhA4iG7
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) August 1, 2022
Ruiter tweeted, “Dear national media, Please stop saying #Browns structured Watson’s contract to minimize financial loss during a suspension. If you pay attention to how the team does business, ALL of their major contracts are structured this way: a massive signing bonus + min year 1 salary.”
He said this in response to Darren Rovell’s post which pointed out that Watson will only lose $333,000 in salary.
Why Such A Contract Structure?
The Browns would like to give huge money upfront but through a signing bonus.
That way, they can prorate the value over the contract’s duration to soften the player’s cap hit.
The player will still get their money and the minimum base salary serves as insurance.
Likewise, teams would like their players to earn the money they signed up for.
Therefore, they defer a huge portion of the base salary to succeeding years as some sort of reward for taking care of themselves.
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