Following his trade to the Cleveland Browns, Deshaun Watson signed a five-year, $230 million contract with the team. In an unprecedented move, the Browns decided to fully guarantee Watson’s deal. This made the contract unique and incredibly risky.
Now, with Watson’s struggles and torn Achilles, this looks like the worst contract in the NFL. Let’s examine the deal, what it means for Cleveland’s salary cap going forward, and whether the Browns can get out of the contract.
Deshaun Watson’s Contract Details and Bonuses
Watson’s five-year, $230 million contract pays him an average annual value of $46 million per year. While he isn’t the NFL’s highest-paid quarterback, he did have the most guaranteed money of any player in the NFL for a while.
When Watson initially signed the deal, it was $80 million more than the next-highest amount of guaranteed money in any contract in NFL history. When Dak Prescott signed his record four-year, $240 million deal with the Dallas Cowboys, he surpassed Watson by receiving $231 million in guaranteed money.
Watson’s deal also included a $45 million signing bonus and a $1 million salary in 2022 (so he wouldn’t miss out on a significant amount of income while suspended by the NFL for violating its personal conduct policy due to the two dozen sexual assault accusations).
Earlier this year, Watson and the Browns restructured his deal, converting the entirety of the QB’s salary ($46 million) to a signing bonus. This restructuring allowed the Browns to add $36.8 million in cap space for this season.
Still, Watson’s deal was extremely questionable at the time due to the accusations against him and the insane amount of guaranteed money he received. Now, it somehow looks even worse.
This season, Watson was arguably the worst starting quarterback in the league, throwing for 1,148 yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions with a 63.4% completion percentage.
Watson ranks 37th in PFN’s QB+ metric, receiving an F grade. Even before getting hurt, Watson ranked in the bottom five for nearly every metric, including third-down conversion rate, nYPA, passing from a clean pocket, and passing when under pressure.
Now, Watson has a torn Achilles, which ended his season in Week 7. That means over the last three seasons (from 2022-2024), Watson played in just 19 games. Over that span, he threw for 3,365 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions with a 61.2% completion percentage.
Even if the Browns want to move on from Watson, he is under contract through the 2026 campaign, and the fact that his deal is fully guaranteed makes it very difficult for Cleveland to get out of.
For the "just cut Deshaun now" crowd:
2024 Dead Cap: $119,942,678 ($93.2M cash)
2025 Dead Cap: $80,770,000For the "cut Deshaun after 2024" crowd:
2025 Dead Cap: $118,935,000 ($92M cash)
2026 Dead Cap: $53,835,000For the "cut Deshaun after 2025" crowd:
2026 Dead Cap:…— Spotrac (@spotrac) September 9, 2024
If the Browns cut Watson today, they would incur a 2024 dead-cap hit of $119.9 million (including $93.2 million cash) and a 2025 dead-cap hit of $80.7 million. This would be the largest dead-cap hit in NFL history.
Even if they cut Watson after this season, the Browns would still have a 2025 dead-cap hit of $118.9 million (including $92 million cash) and a 2026 dead-cap hit of $53.8 million.
As Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap noted after Watson tore his Achilles, the Browns insured up to $13.9 million of Watson’s 2024 compensation. Nearly all of his 2025 earnings are insured, so Cleveland could see significant salary cap savings if Watson can’t play next season.
If he is able to play next year, it remains to be seen if he’ll still have a starting job with the Browns. Watson looked awful when healthy over the last two seasons, so it’s hard to imagine him looking significantly better coming off of a torn Achilles.
Watson will become an unrestricted free agent in the 2027 offseason.