The Cleveland Browns were hoping to land an elite quarterback when 2022, 2023 and 2024 first-round picks, a 2022 fourth-round pick, a 2023 third-round pick and a 2024 fourth-round pick were sent to the Houston Texans for Deshaun Watson and a 2024 sixth-round pick in March 2022. Watson earned an unparalleled and absolutely guaranteed five-year, $230 million pledge in connection with the trade despite having four years worth of excess $ 136 million in the four-year extension with an average of $39 million based on the year he signed with the Texans in September 2020.
He was expected to be rusty in 2022, as Watson missed the first 11 games of the regular season as he served a suspension for violating the NFL’s Private Behavior Policy due to sexual misconduct and missed the upcoming 2021 season contesting a exchange. Watson wasn’t much better in 2023 when he was limited to six games due to a crack in the glenoid bone in his (right) throwing shoulder. However, the Browns made the playoffs as a wild card team with an 11-6 record thanks to the easiest defense in the league and after 38-year-old Joe Flacco took the offense to another level in the next arrival from the line to the end. part of the season due to a series of quarterback injuries.
The offense has been extreme this season, as Watson and the Browns started 1-5. Cleveland leads the league in almost every major offensive aspect, including 29th in passing yards and 27th in trouble. Watson has completed 61.3% of his passes for 1,020 yards with 5 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. His passing rating of 76.6 ranks 28th in the NFL. Watson has been sacked a league-high 31 times, although the offensive series decimated by injuries is actually a mitigating factor with sacks.
Complicated metrics paint a bleaker picture of Watson’s efficiency. According to TruMedia, Watson’s Early Problems Aggregate (EPA) based on go play games ranks 590th among the 592 quarterbacks who have started the first six games of a season since 2000. Watson is averaging 3.9 yards per The dropback this season ranks 814th of 815 quarterbacks since 2000 according to ESPN calculations.
The offense also lacks explosiveness under Watson. There have not been any plays of more than 40 yards. Cleveland can join the NFL’s fewest offensive plays of 20-plus yards. The way Watson has performed often leads to a quarterback being benched, especially on a team that struggles to win games. It’s not going to go down. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski mentioned this time that Watson gives Browns best chance to win. Cleveland’s backup quarterback is Jameis Winston, who has started 80 games over his 10-year NFL career. Stefanski also denied that there is a possession mandate to keep Watson in the lineup because of his oath.
The only ray of hope is that Watson completed 11 of his 12 attempts for 122 yards in the second half of the Life 6 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The buying and selling of passing game supremacy weapon Amari Cooper to Buffalo Expenses on Tuesday makes things difficult for Watson. New Professional Bowl operator Nick Chubb, returning from the horrific left knee trauma he suffered early in the season, will have to do it. Add a special touch to the speeding assaultthen again.
The Browns’ Absolutely Safe Swearing Method I don’t have any suitable long-term options with Watson. because the quarterback who led the NFL with 4,823 passing yards and set a Texans franchise record for landing passes (33) in 2020 no longer appears to exist. The Browns will most likely be stuck with Watson for the foreseeable future if he is ultimately benched this season or if an intact starter quarterback is found during the offseason, either during the NFL Draft or in a separate agency.
Brock Osweiler’s thinking, where the Texans gave the Browns the same moment on the pick in a 2017 trade to take the quarterback’s oath, which included $16 million absolutely guaranteed, off their hands, doesn’t seem like a practical solution . choice. It’s hard to believe a team wouldn’t be willing to trade for Watson given the $92 million locked in over the two years (2025 and 2026), plus his off-the-field performance and baggage. Chances are, the Browns would have to give up a ridiculous amount of recruiting capital for a team to even think carefully about carrying that pledge. Watson’s consent may be required anyway because his oath includes a no-trade clause.
Watson has the NFL’s second-largest salary cap hit for 2025 at $72.935 million due to this year’s and year-end restructures to create the most cap length. The Browns converted $44.92 million of Watson’s $46 million 2023 minimum salary into a signing bonus in the 2023 restructure. A 2027 induction year override was added in Class 23 before the start of the draft year. 2027 league (February 2027) in the procedure to reduce its maximum amount from $54,993 million to $19,057 million. This year’s salary conversion, where $44.79 million of Watson’s $46 million base salary used to be as a signing bonus, erased $35.832 million in cap life. A 2028 induction year was added that still voids in the 23rd generation before the start of the 2027 league year, so this signing bonus could be prorated over five years instead of four.
Cutting Watson in 2025 is too cost-prohibitive due to the two salary conversions and the treatment of daily wage promises when this happens. Cleveland’s salary fees for Watson in 2025 would accrue to $99.835 million by releasing him conventionally. The Browns would have a whopping $172.77 million in wasted money, which is a salary cap hit for a player no longer on a team’s roster, in Watson’s case. The collective $53.835 million in bonus proration from Watson’s sworn year in 2026 and the two fictitious/void sworn years in 2027 and 2028 would rise to Cleveland’s salary cap in 2025. Watson’s guaranteed minimum salary of $46 million for 2026 could also be attributed to 2025 under NFL salary cap laws. Daily oath year salary promises increase up to the flow year salary limit when a participant is saved.
A team may release two players per league year before June 2 by using a post-June 1 designation. This is handled under the salary cap as if it were saved on June 1. With a post-June 1 designation, a team wanted to keep the player’s full cap hit until June 2, even though he is no longer on the roster. The participant’s salary is not on the books that year, except that it is insured.
Only the current year’s bonus proration counts toward the limit and players are spared from using a post-June 1 designation. The acceleration of bonus proration in sworn-in-day years doesn’t arrive in time until you check out the league year, which in most cases starts in early to mid-March. Releasing Watson in 2025 through a post-June 1 appointment is also not possible. The Browns would have $118.935 million of worthless cash by 2025. The $53.835 million prorated bonus from the three additional years Watson is sworn in (the actual year of 2026 and the fictitious/nullified years of 2027 and 2028) could be a 2026 cap hit. . Since there is no difference between resolving the salary cap before June 2 and accelerating the salary commitment, the $46 million guaranteed in 2026 would still be a cap rate for 2025.
Either way, those could be unprecedentedly useless cash fees. The report of useless money flow on breakup tactics with a player is the $85 million the Denver Broncos have in 2024 and 2025 to release quarterback Russell Wilson in March of the future with a post-June 1 designation. Denver’s $53 million cap hit for Wilson this year is the most homogeneous amount of waste money for a player during a league year.
It is conceivable that Watson will be saved in 2026 with a post-June 1 appointment. The 2026 useless money would be equivalent to Watson’s maximum flow amount of $72.935 million. The 2027 useless cash could be $26.9 million in prorated bonuses from Watson’s supposed 2027 and 2028 signing years. Cleveland would have a $99.835 million salary cap hit for 2027 by releasing Watson before June 2. traditional way, as the bonus proration for those two fictional years would increase to Cleveland’s books by 2026. This real study assumes that the Browns will not reduce Watson’s 2025 salary cap hit that year by restructuring his oath again.
Extreme Hour’s undisclosed settlement of the civil lawsuit filed against Watson alleging sexual assault and battery in September will have to effectively end the possibility of Cleveland cutting him with less antagonistic salary ramifications. The NFL opened an investigation into Watson to determine if any other violations of the personal habits policy occurred. Commissioner Roger Goodell indicated Tuesday at the league conferences in Atlanta that the case is still under review.
The accuser likely will not cooperate with the NFL because of the settlement, making a thorough investigation extremely complicated. Without a thorough investigation, it will be nearly impossible for the NFL to suspend Watson again. Tony Buzbee, the accuser’s attorney, has more important matters to resolve. He represents 120 of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ alleged victims.
An intact suspension would open the door for the Browns to void the $92 million in salary promises in Watson’s induction years of 2025 and 2026. The total wasted cash in 2025 would let go of $80.77 million if the promises were voided. It could be taken in two years with $26.935 million in 2025 and $53.835 million in 2026 through the importance of a post-June 1 designation.
There was hope that Watson’s absolutely confident oath could change the game for NFL players. That didn’t come to fruition. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson went to great lengths to make an absolutely sure oath before finally signing a traditional contract. With Watson becoming a cautionary tale for owners due to his unprivileged performance, the door appears to be closing on some other veteran player. obtaining a profitable and absolutely secure oath at any time.
