Browns Restructuring QB Deshaun Watson’s Contract For $36M In Cap Space

ESPN’s Field Yates reports the Browns are restructuring QB Deshaun Watson‘s contract to create $36 million in cap space.

The restructure will put the Browns at around $13 million in cap space. Watson is rehabbing a twice-torn Achilles and isn’t likely to be available until later in the season. 

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero adds Cleveland has now paid out the “vast majority” of Watson’s five-year, $230 million deal, with only a minimum salary in 2025 and a $46 million salary in 2026 remaining.

Watson, 29, was taken in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft out of Clemson by the Texans. He signed a four-year, $13.854 million rookie deal with the Texans that included a fifth-year option of around $17.3 million for the 2021 season.

The Texans later signed Watson to a four-year extension worth as much as $177 million heading into the 2020 season, paying him $39 million a year. However, Watson requested a trade after the season, then sat out the entire 2021 season while navigating more than two dozen lawsuits for sexual misconduct. He was later suspended for 11 games. 

Watson was traded to the Browns for significant draft compensation in 2022 and signed a five-year, $230 million, fully guaranteed contract as a part of the trade. The deal runs through 2026 and includes base salaries of $46 million in each of the final two seasons. 

In 2024, Watson appeared in seven games for the Browns and completed 63.4 percent of his pass attempts for 1,148 yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions. He added 31 carries for 148 yards and another score.