Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson heads to the sideline during the first half against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio.

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What Is Deshaun Watson’s New Contract? Terms of Deshaun Watson’s Contract After Restructure

Cleveland Browns restructure Watson for a second time

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson heads to the sideline during the first half against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio.

It is more than a safe bet to assume that the Cleveland Browns’ Deshaun Watson gamble failed terribly. In 2022, the Browns set themselves up for one of the most ridiculous trades in the history of the game.

Once a hot commodity during the 2018 NFL draft and the initial years of his career. Unfortunately, though, everything spiralled out of control quickly after the sexual misconduct allegations raised against him. Despite being aware of his sexual misconduct allegations, and the fact that the Houston Texans wanted him out of there as quickly as possible, Cleveland jumped the gun and landed Watson knowing very well that he would be suspended for several games to start the season.

The Browns were so high on Watson’s abilities that they traded away a bunch of picks including three first-rounders in 2022, 2023, and 2024, a third round pick in 2023, and fourth round picks in 2022 and 2024. They also extended his contract to a fully-guaranteed $230 million which is still the largest fully guaranteed contract in league history. After giving up so much wealth, the returns for Cleveland have been non-existent.

Deshaun Watson Contract Restructure

Getting out of the Deshaun Watson contract situation has been a nightmare for the Browns, but it finally looks as if there is light at the end of the tunnel. Cleveland has just restructured his contract for the second time in the past three months.

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According to reports, the Browns have restructured Watson’s contract to clear up nearly $36 million in cap space. This move has helped the Browns become cap compliant as earlier they were $22 million over the cap. In spite of this strategic move, one thing will not change and that is Cleveland still owes Watson another $92 million ($46 million each year) over the next two years.

The Browns have restructured the contract of QB Deshaun Watson, creating nearly $36M in 2025 cap space.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 6, 2025

What Does The Future Hold For Watson?

Ever since Watson arrived in Cleveland, nothing has clicked for him. First, it was the 11-game league suspension handed out to him for the sexual misconduct allegations in 2022. Since then, he has struggled with injuries and bad form, missing several games in both 2023 and 2024. In fact, Watson has played in only 19 of the possible 51 games over this three-year period with the Browns. Injured once again after re-rupturing his right Achilles tendon, it is highly probable that Watson will end up missing the entire 2025 season.

Furthermore, Cleveland holds the second overall pick in this year’s draft class and there is a strong possibility that they select either Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders with that pick to look at the future. Additionally, with the Browns restructuring Watson again, this may be an indication that they are getting ready to cut him and move on.

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Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!