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NFL analyst claims Deshaun Watson’s $46,000,000 cap hit is now the league minimum in wild restructure

Deshaun Watson's unprecedented fully guaranteed contract has drawn controversy over the years. While Watson will receive every penny in the contract, the Browns performed a little financial magic to ease the burden.

According to Mike Florio in an August 30 edition of "Pro Football Talk," the Browns managed to take most of the hefty pay off the books by categorizing the salary as a bonus.

Mike Florio 0:00 "They took the $46 million down to the league minimum. The rest of it was converted to a bonus spread out over multiple years. End result, they created 36.8 million in cap space this year," he said.
"But the other side of that, his cap number for next year with that $46 million salary is $72.935 million. His cap number for the year after that, the final year of the contract is $72.935 million, and he's got a $38 million parting gift, dead cap charge in 2027," he added. PFT

However, the salary cap hit will still exist, but won't affect the Browns' financials until 2025. This is the second year in a row that Watson's contract has been restructed to save money in the current year. This effectively makes Watson's salary cap hit higher than any other quarterback's average salary by close to $20 million.

In other words, Watson won't have a higher "pure" salary than those quarterbacks but his cap hit will be bigger than the salary of the top three quarterbacks. According to Spotrac, Joe Burrow, Jordan Love and Trevor Lawrence currently earn the highest average salaries in the NFL at $55 million each.

Deshaun Watson restructure puts Browns on trade watch

Deshaun Watson at Cleveland Browns v Baltimore Ravens - Source: Getty
Deshaun Watson at Cleveland Browns v Baltimore Ravens - Source: Getty

Teams moving salary cap around is a sign that a big move could be coming. To take on more players, teams often try to cut costs before making the move. The reason for this is to know what the honest budget actually is instead of relying on estimates.

By categorizing Watson's salary as a bonus, the Browns will save roughly $36.8 million. By restructuring, the team now has the capital to pay for a significant impact player.

With Nick Chubb battling injury, the running back position has been identified as a weakness; however, options are limited with the start of the season less than a week away.

The restructure signals that the Browns will be going all-in this year, in a very competitive AFC North division.

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