The Cleveland Browns have been looking for a franchise quarterback since returning to Lake Erie. Browns fans hoped Deshaun Watson was the answer after trading an enormous amount of draft capital for him and signing him to a fully guaranteed contract.
Unfortunately for the Browns, the move didn’t quite work out the way they intended. Watson has dealt with suspension and multiple injuries since arriving in Cleveland, and when he has been available, he hasn’t been the quarterback the Browns thought they were trading for.
Now, Cleveland has changed its mind on Watson’s contract structure and is reworking it to make it more team-friendly.
“Browns are restructuring Deshaun Watson’s contract today to lower his $80.716M cap charge in time to become compliant for the start of the league year, league source tells clevelanddotcom. It gives the Browns flexibility to sign free agents,” reported Mary Kay Cabot on Friday.
Cleveland is restructuring Deshaun Watson's contract on Friday to reduce his $81M cap charge to give the Browns flexibility to sign free agents and make trades, per @MaryKayCabot. pic.twitter.com/BXuEHH0lB7
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 6, 2026
Fans reacted to the news on social media.
“Deshaun Watson will forever be known for the worst signing in history! There has been a lot of bad ones but nothing of this magnitude!” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“Glad we’ll be paying this bum more in 2028 when he’s not even on the team. 30 million could pay for 1 or 2 good players in 2028 but we’ll have to use that money for dead cap. Great job Andrew Berry!” someone else added.
“This sums up Deshaun Watson‘s contract he’s the hamburger that tastes like crap. But if you give me a hamburger today, I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday. This is how the front office has been handling this Watson deal from the get-go,” another fan added.
It’ll be interesting to see if Watson’s play on the field improves this season.