Talk about a giant nothing-burger.
The Monday morning news drop by Pro Football Talk that had Cleveland Browns fans buzzing over some magical salary-cap credits falling from the sky turned out to be a gross exaggeration — by a little over $60 million.
So, just a smidge.
Respectfully, Mike Florio took the “L” on Wednesday, updating his viral report that the Browns were set to receive $88 million in total salary cap credits, from 2024 through 2029, via injury insurance on Deshaun Watson’s contract. The longtime NFL voice admitted that he should have consulted with a salary cap expert, and after doing so, the Browns’ actual total cap credits for Watson’s missed time in 2023, 2024, and 2025 will be $25.8 million.
“That’s the figure that someone who is absolutely in an ideal position to interpret the NFLPA data shared with PFT,” Florio wrote. “(And, yes, I should have checked with that person in the first place.)”
The latest Deshaun Watson contract buzz ends in a familiar way for Browns fans
Florio’s report was quickly challenged by cap experts like Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap and Browns cap guru Jack Duffin of 247sports. PFT’s correction probably should have come sooner, but at least it came.
If anything, Browns fans had a day or two to revel in a hypothetical universe where Watson’s days on the roster were numbered and the team would soon be free of his monstrous salary and dead money figures.
That’s still true to an extent, but as the majority of Browns fans already knew, Watson’s not going anywhere until March of 2027. As trusted cap sources have been saying since December of 2024, when Watson’s contract was reworked following his first Achilles injury, both parties are planning to split via a post-June 1 release, prior to the third day of the 2027 league year.
The Browns will still have to deal with the consequences of executing salary conversions for immediate cap savings in three consecutive offseasons, including this year. The Browns have been planning to take on dead-cap hits of $35.8 million in 2027 and $53.7 million in 2028 after Watson is released next spring, as Duffin broke down in April.
This new number of $25.8 million seems to jibe better with those in the know, but as we’ve learned over a couple of mind-numbing days, injury insurance claims are not made public. All we can really go by is the actual cap credits that show up in the player’s contract each year, and guys like Duffin are the right resources for that information.
Again, nothing really changes here. As we could piece together from the fallout over PFT's original report on Monday night, the Browns have some cap credits coming after Watson reinjured his Achilles and missed all of 2025. It’s not the full amount of his salary, though, and the impact on Cleveland’s roster in the future will be minimal, similar to the type of simple restructure that happens hundreds of times across the league every year.
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