The fate of Deshaun Watson’s enormous contract with the Browns may fall in the hands of the NFL.
On Monday, Watson was sued by an anonymous woman who says he sexually assaulted her in her Houston apartment in 2020. Parts of the allegations match closely to behavior described in dozens of lawsuits that Watson settled in 2022 from massage therapists who said he sexually abused them.
Despite the suits and NFL punishment pending at the time, Cleveland traded for Watson in 2022 and signed him to a five-year, $230 million “fully guaranteed” contract.
That deal was restructured after the 2022 season, and it still has $92 million in guaranteed money remaining on it. The restructured deal made almost all of his 2024 salary converted into a signing bonus (roughly $44.8 million of the $46 million owed) and was then prorated, which helped create some cap room for the Browns.
The nearly $100 million question for the Browns, then, is if there is any way for them to get out of Watson’s contract. (In addition to his legal issues, Watson’s play has been poor in Cleveland.)
Watson said the lawsuit came as a “surprise” to him and he plans to play through it. The Browns have said the same.
“I found out exactly whenever everyone else found out,” said Watson on Wednesday.
The restructured contract, which was reviewed by Sports Illustrated, has a default clause in it, which would void Watson’s guarantees if he’s found to be doing activities such as skydiving, hang gliding, riding a motorcycle, and similar activities that are standard in professional sports contracts. It also voids Watson’s money if he fails to report to the team, practice, or play or if he retires.
The clause also allows the Browns to void the contract “for Conduct Detrimental” or if he was suspended under the league’s personal conduct policy. The deal also has a clause that says Watson’s contract could be voided if he is “reasonably believed by Club to have engaged in personal conduct that materially and adversely affects or reflects on Club or has his contract terminated for engaging in personal conduct that reasonably judged by Club to materially and adversely affect or reflect on Club.”
While Watson claims the lawsuit caught him off guard, the woman’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, said this week that Watson has known about it for almost a year. (Buzbee also represented dozens of women who have settled suits against Watson, though one of the original 24 lawsuits remains unsettled.
The full clause, which was reviewed by ProFootballTalk, implies that if Watson didn’t disclose this particular issue with the team before signing his contract, the team could release him without penalty.
Almost no matter what the Browns do, if they cut Watson, it would have major salary cap implications.
Scenario 1: Cut Him Immediately
Cutting him before the NFL and legal processes play out would be costly. A team’s salary cap is impacted by guaranteed money regardless of a player’s status on the roster June 1. Waiving Watson now would bring an additional $92 million in cap charges, according to NFL contract experts Over The Cap. If the Browns voided Watson’s contract and the NFL agreed on its justification it would process it, according to OTC, but hypothetically Watson could file a grievance against the Browns that would result in a cap hold of nearly $38 million. There have been instances, Over The Cap writes, in which a grievance was filed but a team wasn’t penalized with a cap charge.
Watson’s 2024 cap hit of roughly $28 million accounts for almost 11% of the NFL’s salary cap, according to Spotrac. His dead cap hit, which is when a player is no longer on the roster, but is still owed money, is more than $200 million, per Over The Cap.
If the Browns were ultimately stuck with the $200 million in dead money or $92 million in charges, it would drastically alter the team’s books for next season and make it very difficult to field a competitive roster. While the NFL’s salary cap will likely increase ahead of next season, this year a $92 million hold would account for roughly 36% of the cap. The $200 million would account for 78% of a team’s salary cap this year. If the cap increases another $30 million for 2025 like it did for 2024, the dead money hit would still account for 70% of the cap, while the $92 million hold would represent roughly one-third of a team’s cap, hypothetically. Neither option is financially plausible.
Scenario 2: Cut Him After NFL Suspension
Should the Browns find a way to void his guarantees this season and waive him under the misconduct language in his contract, the cap hit would be $26.7 million, according to Over The Cap. If Watson were suspended during the current season, the team would be rewarded credits for the converted signing bonus paid this year. If the Browns are able to void Watson’s guarantees for the 2025 season, it would come with an $80.25 million cap hit, that the team could stretch over two seasons with a $26.7 million hit in 2025 and a $53.6 million one in 2026.
No option to part ways with Watson is cheap or easy, even if Watson is suspended. For now, the Browns will have to wait for the NFL’s investigation. On Thursday, the woman’s lawyer said she would meet with the NFL in the next two weeks, and Buzbee said in an email to ESPN there is video evidence and additional witnesses for their case, too.
“We have a video and two additional witnesses for the NFL to speak with,” Buzbee wrote. “I’ve personally never had confidence in the NFL’s disciplinary process but my client has chosen to engage it.”
