AFC Notes: Browns, Deshaun Watson, Ravens, Lamar Jackson, Steelers

Browns

• Regarding Browns GM Andrew Berry saying they could restructure Deshaun Watson’s contract this offseason, Jeff Howe of The Athletic cites a source with knowledge of the situation who said Cleveland will likely convert a portion of his $46 million base salary for 2023 into a signing bonus for cap relief.
• Currently, Watson is scheduled to count $54.993 million against the cap for each of the next four seasons. 

“It is a time frame, however, it’s also a time frame that isn’t necessarily a hard time frame, meaning we can continue to negotiate,” DeCosta said. “By franchising Lamar, that doesn’t exclude us getting a long-term deal done. That’s been done 1,000 times in the league. So, yes, there is a time frame, but the time frame does move, albeit now there are some different dynamics involved. I don’t want to live in a world where there’s no optimism, where I’m just going to give up hope. You guys see me during games and, sometimes, I’m in a dark place at the end of a game when I know there’s no hope, we’ve lost the game. I don’t see that here, and I won’t feel that. I’ll never see that here.

“I refuse that because I’ve seen a lot of deals happen when things look bleak or I haven’t seen deals when I would’ve thought, oh, it’s a slam dunk. It takes two people to do it, it takes communication, it takes respect, it takes appreciation for each other and it takes an understanding of the greater good and how this thing is going to fit together. I remain positive. I have no reason not to remain positive. We’ve spoken recently, we’ve had good meetings recently, and so, we’ll see what happens.”

In the meantime, the tag will eat up nearly all of their available budget, which DeCosta acknowledged will make things hard this offseason. 

“It is a wrench,” DeCosta said. “We don’t know, and so, yeah, it slows you up a little bit. It does kind of create a little bit of a haze as to what the future’s going to look like with your roster. There are some things that we’re not going to do right now that maybe we would try to do. But there’s no bigger question right now, and no bigger decision — there’s no bigger challenge for this organization moving forward than this contract. So all of my effort — well, most of my effort — is focused on this. I would say the rest of it is focused on the draft and free agency. But you’re right: It’s hard to really have a clear vision of what the future’s going to look like until we can get this contract done.”

• DeCosta was noncommittal about the future of DL Calais Campbell, who is one of the players the Ravens might not be able to afford unless they’re able to spread out the cap hit for Jackson on a long-term deal. 

Steelers

Steelers GM Omar Khan said they are comfortable going forward with QB Kenny Pickett. 

“We feel really good about the quarterback position this year, obviously,” Khan said, via Mark Kaboly of The Athletic. “We’re excited about Kenny. … We have our quarterback. It was pretty cool to see.”

Steelers owner Art Rooney feels the progression Pickett made was “obvious.” 

“The progression of Kenny I think was obvious, and good to see, and hopefully something that we’ll continue to build on next year,” Rooney said.

Khan thinks “good things are in store” if Pickett can continue developing. 

“Just watching him grow, and I just think if we continue that momentum, I think good things are in store for us,” Khan said. “His growth was awesome to see. The thing about Kenny is that he wants to be great. He works on it and wants to be great.”

• Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt has met with the Chiefs, Cowboys, and Steelers during the combine. (Tyler Kading)