Deshuan Watson contract with Browns upsets Ravens owner

The Cleveland Browns have not done much to scare opponents on the field. But the Haslams have done something to scare the Ravens owner with the Deshaun Watson contract.

The Cleveland Browns gave quarterback Deshaun Watson, whose play will most surely push the Browns offense in new directions, a fully guaranteed contract. Now rival owners around the NFL are worried this might become the new normal for quarterback contracts.

One owner was public about his distaste for Deshaun Watson’s new contract. That owner is none other than Steve Bisciotti of the Baltimore Ravens.

Bisciotti, who bought 49 percent of the Ravens just four years after the move to Baltimore to “help pay off debt” Modell had acquired, became the principal owner when the NFL forced Modell to sell the franchise due to the team’s continued financial hardships.

Bisciotti did not elaborate on why he feels Watson should not have been the first player to get a fully guaranteed contract. Maybe the thought the first player should have been Ray Lewis, or maybe Ray Rice?

Regardless, Bisciotti is missing one important fact — Deshaun Watson was not the first player to get a fully guaranteed contract. He’s not even the first quarterback to get a fully guaranteed contract. The first quarterback to get a fully guaranteed contract was Kirk Cousins in 2018.

Now Bisciotti is upset with the Browns contract with Watson. The linchpin of his frustration is over the amount of guaranteed money in the contract. Watson’s contract is fully guaranteed. Per the NFL’s CBA, every fully guaranteed contract must have the guaranteed money put into escrow upon the signing of the deal.

What is Bisciotti’s real issue with the Deshaun Watson contract?

The real issue for Bisciotti is that he trying to negotiate a contract with his quarterback former NFL MVP Lamar Jackson. And Watson’s contract just made Bisciotti’s life a lot harder in those negotiations. If Jackson were smart, he would want his contract fully guaranteed as well. If that happens, Bisciotti would have to put the entire contract in escrow.

Do you think Lamar Jackson is worth more than Deshaun Watson? I bet Jackson does. Now Bisciotti now has to deal with the fallout of that line of thinking.

Purposeful or not, Dee and Jimmy Haslam have pushed the Ravens owner into a corner. They just made his negotiations with Jackson a lot harder.

Finally! After years of owner incompetence, Dee and Jimmy Haslam scored a major victory over a rival owner.