CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns’ decision to give Deshaun Watson a fully-guaranteed $230 million contract certainly made waves across the NFL. Three years later, it’s still creating problems for everyone — except Watson.
The Browns aren’t at the center of the most recent episode of the podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out, but their actions and those of their former center, JC Tretter, are a big part of the 61-page document that drives the episode.
Host Pablo Torre and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio discuss a document with details from what Torre described as a closed-door meeting held over 10 days in July and August of 2024 with witness testimony from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Tretter, former NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, Haslam and seven other owners as well as quarterbacks Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson.
Aside from being the owner who green-lit the Watson deal, Haslam and the Browns are mostly mentioned in passing during the podcast. There are still interesting things throughout that Browns fans might want to know.
The document is from the ruling by System Arbitrator Christopher Droney in the collusion grievance regarding guarantees in the contract of certain veteran players, writes Florio in a post on Pro Football Talk.
The documents provide a level of access rarely found as a process known as expedited discovery allowed the NFLPA, as Florio explained, “to examine records and notes and slides for presentations and emails and texts and it is an exhaustive process.”
Here’s what Browns fans might want to know.
It all starts with Watson
Cleveland Browns veteran minicamp in Berea
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson watches veterans minicamp in Berea as he works out in the gym. John Kuntz, cleveland.com
The Watson contract got the attention of NFL owners and during a closed-door meeting in 2022 at the spring meetings, the NFL Management Council (NFLMC), which advises teams on handling certain situations, specifically discouraged similar guaranteed contracts, the podcast explains.
The arbitrator concluded that “The NFLMC’s message was not purely educational and informational as the NFL contends. It unmistakably encouraged the owners to reduce the trend of increasing player guarantees.” Commissioner Roger Goodell himself was involved in crafting this message, emailing his general counsel that there was “a big concern” about guaranteed contracts, stating, “If we wait to see how it falls, it will be too late to counter.”
The documents include team owner communications around contract negotiations with other young quarterbacks who ultimately did not receive guarantees after Watson was given his new deal, including Murray.
According to the documents, after extending Murray, Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill texted Chargers owner Dean Spanos, “These QB deals are expensive but we limited the fully guaranteed money and have some pretty good language. Thankfully we have a QB that’s worth paying.”
Spanos replied: “Your deal helps us for our quarterback next year.”
Bidwill added: “I think many teams will be happy with it once they have a chance to review. Cleveland really screwed things up, but I was resolved to keep the guaranteed relatively ‘low’.”
While Denver was negotiating an extension with Wilson after acquiring him in 2022, Broncos co-owner Greg Penner forwarded Wilson’s non-fully guaranteed contract to fellow owners, writing, “If we can get this done, (general manager) George (Paton) feels very good about it for us as a franchise and the benchmark it sets (versus Watson) for the rest of the league.”
Wilson had been seeking a fully guaranteed deal. Which leads us to the next thing Browns fans might be interested in.
Connecting dots with Tretter
Day 21 of Cleveland Browns training camp, August 27, 2021
The Browns waived JC Tretter in 2022.John Kuntz, cleveland.com
This part is more speculative from Torre and Florio, but they assert that one reason this document was kept secret instead of the NFLPA making what appears to be damning information public is found in a footnote.
It actually started in a separate document that included a text exchange between Tretter, then the president of the NFLPA, and Smith.
Torre explains: “At one point, (Tretter) used an expletive that I will not say here. JC Tretter also called Russell Wilson a quote-unquote ‘wuss.’ And then he said of Wilson, quote, ‘Instead of being the guy that made guaranteed contracts the norm, he’s the guy that ruined it for everyone.’”
The footnote related to this reads, “Mr. Tretter testified that he would not have criticized Mr. Wilson if he had known that owners had a collusive agreement to limit guaranteed compensation.”
This comes after Torre and Florio connected some mysterious dots about Tretter’s motives regarding his actions as president.
The Browns released Tretter in 2022, shortly after he was elected to his second term as president. He announced his retirement a few months later. All that means his second term would be his final term.
Among the many things Tretter championed was fully guaranteed contracts, something the NFL held firm on in CBA negotiations leading up to the 2020 agreement between the two sides.
Torre and Florio raise questions about the process used to replace Smith as executive director.
In short, according to the hosts, it was an unprecedented secretive search process that resulted in Lloyd Howell, former CFO of Booz Allen, getting elected to the job in 2023.
Howell created a new position, Chief Strategy Officer, and gave it to Tretter, raising questions from Florio about the integrity of the process.
Florio speculates Tretter, who he believes has ambitions to become the union’s executive director, installed Howell as a “bridge candidate.”
Now what?
You should listen to the entire podcast. There are more details about Howell and the presentation the NFLMC gave as well as interesting details surrounding negotiations of contracts for Jackson and other quarterbacks.
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