According to Mary Kay Cabot, the team added another void year after 2026 to lessen a future dead cap hit, but the next two seasons of the deal remain unchanged.
CLEVELAND — The Browns have reportedly restructured Deshaun Watson’s contract yet again, a move that will likely see the much-maligned quarterback remain in Cleveland for the foreseeable future.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mary Kay Cabot of 3News media partner Cleveland.com were among the first to break the news. According to both writers, the changes will allow the Browns to obtain some salary cap relief following the 2026 season, when Watson’s five-year deal is set to expire.
Over the next two years, Watson is owed a total of $92 million in salary, with the Browns taking a cap hit of $72.935 million each of those years due to previous contract restructures. Cabot reports that, prior to today’s news, the contract also contained a void year in 2027 that would’ve seen Cleveland endure a $26.864 million cap charge.
The current terms of the restructured deal are not yet known, but a source told Cleveland.com the team added another void year to spread out the severity of the dead cap. Regardless, it all but guarantees Watson will remain on the Browns’ roster for “at least” the next two seasons, per Cabot.
The Browns acquired Watson from the Houston Texans prior to the 2022 season and signed him to a then record five-year, $230 million guaranteed contract. The results since have been a disaster, with the former Pro Bowler first being suspended 11 games for sexual misconduct allegations before missing most of the succeeding two seasons with severe injuries. When he’s been healthy, statistics have put him among the worst QBs in the NFL.
Watson’s 2024 campaign ended with a torn Achilles suffered during Week 7. On Thursday, he posted a photo on Instagram showing himself without his walking boot, with the caption, “Back On My Feet! MOREGLORY!”
Even with the turmoil that has surrounded Watson’s tenure in Cleveland, both Cabot and Rapoport write that the club will give him the opportunity to compete for the starting quarterback job in 2025. But “compete” implies the job will not automatically be his, and the Browns are expected to either add a veteran QB in the offseason or select one in April’s NFL draft (or both).
Currently, Cabot reports that if the Browns were to release Watson after June 1, 2025, they would have to deal with a dead cap hit of nearly $119 million in 2025 followed by almost $73 million in 2026. That would make it virtually impossible for for organization to put a viable roster on the field, which means as of now, Watson will “play out the original five-year deal, and the two sides will go from there.”