The Browns’ decision to make a major quarterback upgrade has generated multifront pushback, given Deshaun Watson‘s off-field trouble and the contract structure’s effect on other teams’ future QB negotiations. The fully guaranteed $230MM did not surface until late in the process.
Watson initially rejected the Browns, and Jimmy Haslam said third-year GM Andrew Berry approached him with a radical idea to put the team back in the mix for the Pro Bowl passer. Berry pitched the idea of a fully guaranteed contract to move the needle, Haslam said. The result: a five-year deal that saw the Browns break the NFL’s record for fully guaranteed money authorized by $80MM.
“I don’t how much Andrew knew,” Haslam said of other teams’ contract offers, via the Akron Beacon Journal’s Nate Ulrich. “First of all, I don’t know what’s accurate. [Berry] just said, ‘Would we consider fully guaranteeing it?’ OK. What’s that mean? When’s the money due? Do you do four versus five [years]. Can we make this work? And he got us comfortable with that.”
Although four teams were finalists for Watson, it appears just one was willing to go to this extreme place. Watson refusing to waive his no-trade clause for the Browns may well have centered on Cleveland’s weather compared to the three NFC South cities in this mix. Browns co-owner Dee Haslam said Wednesday she believed this was the case. While Berry’s fully guaranteed pitch is quite the step to convince a quarterback to play in northeast Ohio, Watson had three other teams pursuing him.
The Falcons were on the verge of landing the Atlanta-area native, appearing to finish second ahead of the Saints and Panthers in this unusual pursuit. The Panthers were not comfortable guaranteeing the final two years of Watson’s contract, Ulrich adds, and Arthur Blank did not make it sound like the Falcons were prepared to authorize this landmark guarantee, either. Blank said the Falcons were only doing due diligence when they met with Watson, though the team being later reported as on the verge of landing him would contradict the owner’s view of his team’s interest.
“You have to leave that to Jimmy and Dee Haslam, to make their own judgment,” Blank said, via USA Today’s Jarrett Bell. “The fact it’s $80MM above the highest contract ever given, guaranteed, in the history of the league, 102 years old, says a lot. Whether most teams in the NFL or any other team in the NFL would have committed to that contract, I don’t know. That certainly is a huge commitment.”
It is interesting contract matters played into these talks, considering Watson had only played one season on the $39MM-per-year deal he signed with the Texans in 2020. Technically, Watson was tied to that contract for two years, since Houston deactivated him throughout the 2021 season. But that Texans deal ran through 2025. Watson having a no-trade clause gave him considerable power, and the bidding war led to the Browns making an offer he could not refuse.
What about the roster? I mean they went 8-9 and lost a few decent players since then.
They added 2 very good players and they’re not done spending. Joe Burrow took the Bengals to the Super Bowl with a horrible offensive line and an average defense.
They probably are done spending for this year. They had about 20 mil before the trade. Nothing after. And considering Watson is going to make more than Mayfield, getting rid of Baker is not going to give them big relief. Next year they only had 6 mil according to over the cap. So not looking like big spenders next year. 2024 they might be a player in free agency.
When they get rid of Mayfield, they’ll gain 18 million. They restructured Cooper to free up 15 million. They still want Clowney back and maybe Landry or a receiver like that. Fuller is a cheaper possibility. Browns will be like a lot of teams that somehow manipulate the cap. How do the Rams do it?
Not by trading for a big money QB but keeping their other QB on the roster that’s still owed nearly $20M. I’m thinking if there were any takers, they would have shown up by now. I’ll bet CLE is gonna have to eat a good portion of Baker’s guaranteed contract.
You do know that Watsons salary this year counts as only 1 million.
Getting rid of baker isn’t going to give them any cap room he’s on fifth year option that’s fully guaranteed, but Watson only counts like 8-9 mil on cap this year
Watson counts for 1 million this year.
You have to include part of his signing bonus for his salary cap hit. For 2022, Watson will be about a $10 million hit.
No signing bonus. All the money is guaranteed
Check out this article regarding his salary cap hit.
link to cleveland.com.
Mayfield’s 5th year option is 18.3 million. The Browns may or may not pay some of it. They claim they’re not releasing him
I can’t wait for this contract to implode. You know it’s just a matter of time.
He needed 230m to afford a coat?!
The Browns are going all-in on being the villains of the NFL. I hope they go winless. That’d be priceless.
Pants would be a better start
For them to be the first 0-17 team would be both deserved and emblematic of the franchise
I hope they win to shut up all the haters. Oh wait, the haters have no life so they will continue to be negative about everything.
I have jumped to conclusions that Watson is immanently guilty regarding the civil cases. If he has done as people accuse and speculate, then I hope he strives to right his wrong and that he pays for what he did. If he’s innocent, then there’s some wacky (no pun intended) massage therapist scheme going on.
You do know that 2 grand juries refused to even indict him? Not saying he’s not a little freaky but do you notice that not one lady went to the police right after he left. I can understand some wanting to just forget it,but 22? Didn’t seem like a big deal until some lawyers got involved
It was always cleveland as Watson claimed but it wasn’t cleveland till everything became guaranteed
No it’s because Cleveland had the best roster. LoL.
More like “The Browns were the only ones willing to give him a fully guaranteed contract”.
Could end up being the worst contract in NFL history if anything goes awry after year 1.
We can only hope that Haslam has to eat most of this contract.
A man who is guilty of defrauding thousands of people out of millions of dollars figured out a way to help a man accused of sexual harassment 22 times avoid financial punishment.
What I can’t wrap my head around is that Watson was basically rewarded for all of this. If he’s guilty of even 1/10th of what he’s accused of, this is going to make me sick to my stomach. Either way, it’s downright STUPID to take such a gamble without knowing FOR SURE that the person you are paying such a massive amount for is 100% innocent. The Haslem’s paid all that money to anger and disgust such a huge percentage of the Cleveland population…a highly questionable move in my eyes. Good luck getting advertisers and good luck with the women’s rights groups…you asked for it.
The Watson press conference did one thing for me – it showed me what a complete dolt Watson is. The guy can hardly form a complete sentence. That tells me that as his physical skills erode his game will decline markedly.
He actually is excellent at reading defenses. There are people that can be intellectual and can’t throw a football. Who’d thought that?