Cleveland Browns fans have been discussing the possibility of having a new QB1 moving forward since Week 7 of the 2024 season - when Deshaun Watson tore his Achilles tendon and was ruled out for the rest of the year.
Watson prior to that injury was anything but good, averaging a 63.4 completion percentage and just 5.3 yards per pass. His QBR was abysmal, and he finished up with a 23.0 QBR through seven weeks of action. He was simply a negative on the field, which was obvious from Jameis Winston's few excellent weeks at starter.
So, with an Achilles injury to add in to his clearly middling quarterback play, it has been expected that the team would not only be looking for a quarterback to develop in the 2025 NFL Draft, but potentially in free agency. But, the cap space that's been hit because of Watson has been making it a pipe dream to sign anyone good in the offseason. Even with this latest cap move, it is still a dream.
Latest cap move indicates Browns are sticking with Deshaun Watson longterm
The Browns reportedly restructured Watson's contract prior to Week 17 action, indicating two things: Cleveland will now have some cap flexibility headed into the offseason after 2026, and that the team is going to keep Watson on the roster at least through 2026.
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Nothing has been written or said by Browns beat reporters or by the front office that would have indicated that Watson was soon to be cut from the team. They really couldn't, though, as the dead cap hit from a pre-June 1st cut would have exceeded $80 million.
While details have yet to be released on the exact restructuring done to the contract, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network indicated in his report that the deal lightens the cap load for the Browns and "eases the salary cap burden for years to come."
More reporting from Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network says that the restructuring has no impact on Watson's cap hit in 2025, though, and that it specifically just allows the Browns to "spread the cap hit" after the contract is up after 2026.
Unfortunately, this move doesn't mean that Cleveland might be able to go out and offer a lucrative deal to a free agent quarterback like Justin Fields, Sam Darnold, or Kirk Cousins. It does mean that Watson will be waiting in the wings to likely take back over at QB1 if whoever they have signed to replace him temporarily has not done enough to stay the starter.
Watson has essentially no wiggle room left to struggle or appear to be even more of a nuisance on and off the field as he already has been.