The Cleveland Browns restructured the Deshaun Watson contract in late December, borrowing money in future seasons to create salary-cap savings in 2025. While that will help the team in NFL free agency, it also means Watson is coming back in 2025 and his contract will linger for years to come.
Watson, who suffered a torn Achilles in Week 7 this season, agreed to significant adjustments made to his contract, which added a void year onto his original deal. He still receives $92 million guaranteed over the next two seasons, but Cleveland gets more salary-cap flexibility.
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- Deshaun Watson stats (ESPN): 61.2% completion rate, 80.7 QB rating, 19-12 TD-INT, 6.0 yards per attempt, 70 sacks taken, 9-10 record
Watson is now guaranteed a spot on the Browns roster in 2025, but Cleveland is expected to bring in significant competition at quarterback. NFL rumors have already connected the franchise to Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers, with both quarterbacks widely expected to be available this offseason.
Covering the situation for The Athletic, Browns’ reporter Zac Jackson wrote that Watson “is almost certain to never play a meaningful down for the Browns again.” Cleveland is reportedly “starting from scratch” at the quarterback position, with Watson seemingly having no path to playing.
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- Deshaun Watson contract (Spotrac): #72.935 million cap hit in 2025, $72.935 million cap hit in 2026
It suggests that Watson will likely be the third quarterback on the Browns roster this season, kept behind a veteran who could serve as a bridge starter and a young rookie to develop picked out of the 2025 NFL Draft. Cleveland is in a relatively good spot to draft one of this year’s top quarterback prospects and could conceivably sit someone like Cam Ward early in the season and then promote them to starter later on.
While this also means creating an uncomfortable situation where the highest-paid player on the Browns roster is third on the depth chart and barely even practices during the season, it seems to be Cleveland’s plan. Watson’s contract is still going to significantly limit how much talent can be added to Cleveland’s roster in the next two years, but the Browns coaching staff and front office finally seem prepared to no longer treat Watson as a starting-caliber player.