No, Browns can't just escape the Deshaun Watson contract nightmare

Deshaun Watson is apparently the never-ending backfiring gamble for the Cleveland Browns .

It’s a nightmare of their own design, though, as Watson’s play has been worse than probably anyone could have imagined since the team signed him to that fully guaranteed $230 million contract before the 2022 season.

Things somehow got worse on this front for the Browns during the stunning 33-17 Week 1 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

There, Watson went just 24-of-45 for 169 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, averaging just 3.8 yards per attempt while taking six sacks. That, after seemingly spending the summer looking all the way back and fully healthy, poised for a possible breakout.

When it comes to the contract, Browns fans might want to look away—the deal, laced with a no-trade clause, runs through 2026 and the cap hit is $72.9 million in both 2025 and ‘26…and that’s after a restructure this past month.

Like ESPN’s Paul Hembekides wrote after Watson’s season debut, it is “the worst contract ever.”

Or there was this, from Andrew Brandt : “Deshaun Watson has the most uncuttable and untradable contract the NFL has ever seen.”

Per Spotrac , Watson is a $172.7 dead cap number after the 2024 season. Part of the issue stems from backloading the deal, so restructures and even an extension, however unlikely that seems now, might be able to provide some wiggle room (in addition to cap rollover after the restructure this year).

Still, the Browns coughed up a trio of first-round picks and other assets via trade just to have the right to give out such a dramatic fully guaranteed deal that not a single other team has accepted as the new league-wide precedent.

Through 13 games of this historic contract, Watson has mustered 15 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. Should the Week 1 showing become a trend, it’s hard to imagine a team with such an otherwise talented roster could justify not giving Jameis Winston a shot—especially after the brief magic Joe Flacco was able to author last year.

If nothing else, nobody could blame the Browns for benching Watson then, even if they can’t actually get out of the contract.

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