HEADLINES

Month: December 2024

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/27/24

November 27th, 2024 at 4:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Wednesday’s practice squad moves:

Denver Broncos

Minnesota Vikings

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

The Vikings used an injury activation on Muse but waived him Tuesday. This will at least keep a player they prioritized via the activation around. A 2022 seventh-round pick, Muse played in 10 games as a Vikings rookie but just five over the past two seasons.

Also waived Tuesday, Throckmorton will end up sticking around as one of the many ex-Saints players and coaches on Sean Payton‘s second Broncos roster. The veteran backup O-lineman joins ex-New Orleans starter Kwon Alexander and 2023 Saints draftee A.T. Perry on Denver’s practice squad, with the likes of Wil Lutz, Adam Trautman, Malcolm Roach, Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Lucas Krull comprising the contingent of former Saints on the Broncos’ 53-man roster.

Chargers Claim S Marcus Maye

November 27th, 2024 at 3:25pm CST by Sam Robinson

Marcus Maye will join a fourth NFL team, not reaching free agency after the Dolphins waived him. The veteran safety is on his way to Los Angeles.

The former Jets, Saints and Dolphins defender did not make it past the Chargers on the waiver wire, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero. Maye is due just more than $400K over the season’s remainder. To make room for Maye on the roster, Pelissero notes the Bolts placed Eli Apple on IR.

Miami became the second franchise to cut Maye this year, following New Orleans, who used Maye’s deal as help toward cap compliance during an annual journey for the NFC South club. Maye played 11 games for the Dolphins. This has marked the first year the former second-round pick has not been a regular starter, but Miami used him on 293 defensive plays. Pro Football Focus graded Maye as having bounced back from a down 2023, slotting him 21st among safeties this season.

Maye’s stock soared in 2021, as the Jets — after trading Jamal Adams months earlier — franchise-tagged him. It has not reached that level since. An Achilles tear and DUI arrest plagued Maye during his final months as a Jet. New York let Maye walk in 2022, and New Orleans signed off on a three-year, $22.5MM deal. Maye, 31, did not live up to that pact; most notably, he missed 10 games in 2023 due to injury and a suspension. The Dolphins used Maye as a third safety alongside Jevon Holland and Jordan Poyer this season.

Wednesday’s claim does mark an interesting bounce-back effort for Maye, as other veteran safeties recently cut — Adams, Eddie Jackson — have not found new homes yet. Maye will join a Chargers team that employs the NFL’s second-highest-paid safety (Derwin James) along with recently re-signed sidekick Alohi Gilman. The latter missed practice Wednesday. Trade pickup Elijah Molden also plays a regular role in the Bolts’ secondary, potentially making Maye an overqualified insurance option.

Maye has started 80 of the 88 career games he has played. He will now step into a high-end defense, with Jesse Minter elevating the unit from 24th in points allowed in 2023 to first through 11 games this season. This represents an interesting opportunity for Maye, who figures to play an auxiliary role for a playoff contender. Apple played in four Chargers games, seeing action on 47 defensive plays.

Browns Claim James Houston, Cam Thomas

November 27th, 2024 at 3:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

Less than a month after the Browns traded Za’Darius Smith to the Lions, the AFC North team will pick up a player Detroit discarded following that swap.

Waived Tuesday, James Houston is heading to Cleveland. The Browns submitted a successful waiver claim for the third-year edge rusher, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. Houston is controllable through 2025 via restricted free agency.

Busy today on the wire, the Browns made another claim for a pass rusher. Cleveland added defensive end Cameron Thomas after Kansas City cut him (to make room for D.J. Humphries), cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot adds. The Browns waived defensive end Elerson Smith to clear a roster spot for Thomas.

Neither Houston nor Thomas has produced much of consequence over the past two seasons. Houston has tallied one sack in that span; Thomas has not recorded any. This will be Thomas’ third team this year, as the Chiefs acquired the former third-round pick from the Cardinals in a trade just before the season. With Alex Wright on IR, this duo will join Ogbo Okoronkwo among the Browns’ pack of supplementary edge rushers.

Most notably on this action-packed afternoon for potential Myles Garrett sidekicks, Houston has a prolific stretch on his NFL resume. The former Lions sixth-round pick did not debut until Thanksgiving Day during his rookie year. From that week on, he racked up eight sacks to show considerable promise. Houston notched two sacks against the Bills and three against the Bears during that torrid run, but he has been unable to sustain it — or really anything close — in the time since.

Houston only saw action in two games last season, going down in Week 2 of last season and not returning to action until the NFC championship game. The Jackson State product suffered a broken fibula that blunted his momentum, and while he did play a rotational role in the NFC decider, he played only 116 snaps this season. Houston does have a sack this year, but he has only two QB hits. The Lions now have Smith in place of Aidan Hutchinson leading their pass rush, with Josh Paschal also back from a midseason absence. Despite Marcus Davenport also being down for the season due to injury, the Lions did not have room to keep Houston around.

The Chiefs had been without Charles Omenihu all season, but the veteran edge player is coming back from an ACL tear this week. Thomas, who also saw the defending champs trade for Josh Uche at the deadline, played all of six defensive snaps this season. The former Steve Keim third-round pick notched three sacks as a rookie but fell out of favor in Jonthan Gannon‘s scheme, being traded despite the Cardinals losing BJ Ojulari for the season in August. Thomas remains attached to his third-round rookie deal, however; that contract runs through 2025.

Cowboys Activate WR Brandin Cooks From IR

November 27th, 2024 at 3:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

After a week back at practice, Brandin Cooks is ready to go. The Cowboys will have the veteran wide receiver for their Thanksgiving Day game.

The team activated Cooks from IR on Wednesday. Cooks will certainly return to a team with a different outlook, as he has been out since Week 4. The Cowboys are now 4-7 and teetering on the brink of falling out of even fringe contention this season.

This is the second year of Cooks’ reworked Cowboys deal; he is due for free agency in 2025. Traded an NFL-record-tying four times, Cooks has never hit the market. The Saints (2017), Patriots (2018), Rams (2020) and Texans (2023) have traded him, with the returns lowering as the 2014 first-round pick has moved into the latter part of his career. Cooks, 31, can attempt to create a decent market for himself with a nice finish.

The 11th-year pass catcher will not be working with Dak Prescott, as he had in every other game in his Cowboys career. Cooper Rush is currently taking the snaps, with Trey Lance set for situational work. Prescott is out for the season after undergoing hamstring surgery.

Following Brandon Marshall in tallying 1,000-yard seasons for four different teams, Cooks did not run that number to five last season. He did serve as the Cowboys’ No. 2 wideout, accumulating 657 yards and eight touchdowns — his most since 2016 — in 16 games last season. Dallas has seen third-year player Jalen Tolbert (37 receptions, 410 yards, four TDs) become a regularly used contributor since Cooks’ injury, but a sizable gulf still exists between CeeDee Lamb and everyone else in Dallas’ passing attack.

The Cowboys also announced they placed tackle Asim Richards and cornerback Caelen Carson on IR. Carson, a rookie fifth-round pick, played a regular role for a stretch this season, seeing 252 defensive snaps in five games. A 2023 fifth-rounder, Richards played 128 snaps on offense this season. He made one start. Both players could return after four missed games, but the Cowboys have four injury activations remaining. One may still go to DeMarcus Lawrence, who joins Cooks in being out since the Cowboys’ first Giants matchup.

Seahawks Place G Anthony Bradford On IR, Designate T Stone Forsythe For Return

November 27th, 2024 at 1:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Seahawks have officially designated Uchenna Nwosu for return from IR, as Mike Macdonald indicated would happen. They have also designated tackle Stone Forsythe for return from IR, The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar tweets.

With the Seahawks missing Abraham Lucas and George Fant for most of the season’s first half, Forsythe logged five starts before going down with a hand injury. Lucas has since return after a long rehab effort, which would make Forsythe a backup once he is activated. Fant is amid a second IR stint.

While the Seahawks could soon have some tackle depth back, they will be down a starting guard. Anthony Bradford sustained an ankle injury during Seattle’s win over Arizona and is heading to IR. Playing opposite free agency addition Laken Tomlinson, Bradford has started every game for the Seahawks this season. Week 13 will be the first game either of Seattle’s starting guards misses. Bradford suffered a “pretty severe” high ankle sprain, Macdonald said (via Dugar). The Seahawks hope he can come back after the required four-week absence period.

Bradford won the right guard job out of training camp, keeping a place in the starting lineup after the Seahawks moved on from both their 2023 guard starters (Damien Lewis, Phil Haynes). Bradford spent much of last season filling in for Haynes, who has not resurfaced since his Seahawks contract expired, while Lewis manned the LG job. Lewis defected to the Panthers on an eight-figure-per-year deal, and the Seahawks kept cost low by signing Tomlinson to a veteran-minimum deal. Bradford remains tied to a rookie contract.

A 2023 fourth-round pick, Bradford has struggled in moving to full-time duty this year. Pro Football Focus rates the LSU alum as the NFL’s fourth-worst guard among regulars in 2024. ESPN’s run block win rate metric ranks the Seahawks in the bottom five. Another Haynes, third-rounder Christian, is set to replace Bradford, who appeared on the Seattle sideline in a walking boot and using crutches. Despite not starting any games, Christian Haynes has logged 164 offensive snaps.

Nwosu and Forsythe being activated would leave the Seahawks with three such moves remaining during the regular season. The team also moved linebacker Patrick O’Connell to the active roster.

2024 NFL Dead Money, By Team

November 27th, 2024 at 12:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Giants making the decision to waive Daniel Jones, rather than keep him around ahead of a potential 2025 post-June 1 cut designation, changed their dead money outlook for this year and next. Here is how their new total fits in with the rest of the teams’ numbers for dead money — cap space allocated to players no longer on the roster — entering the final third of the regular season. Numbers courtesy of OverTheCap.

  1. Denver Broncos: $85.21MM
  2. New York Giants: $79.57MM
  3. Minnesota Vikings: $69.83MM
  4. Buffalo Bills: $68.47MM
  5. Carolina Panthers: $68.28MM
  6. Green Bay Packers: $65.53MM
  7. Tennessee Titans: $62.89MM
  8. Philadelphia Eagles: $61.95MM
  9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $60.64MM
  10. New Orleans Saints: $59.44MM
  11. New York Jets: $59.24MM
  12. Los Angeles Chargers: $58.62MM
  13. New England Patriots: $53.37MM
  14. Miami Dolphins: $52.28MM
  15. Seattle Seahawks: $52MM
  16. Jacksonville Jaguars: $51.2MM
  17. Las Vegas Raiders: $49.37MM
  18. Washington Commanders: $42.81MM
  19. Houston Texans: $39.28MM
  20. Cleveland Browns: $38.79MM
  21. Los Angeles Rams: $34.63MM
  22. Detroit Lions: $33.71MM
  23. Pittsburgh Steelers: $30.18MM
  24. Chicago Bears: $29.65MM
  25. Arizona Cardinals: $29.35MM
  26. San Francisco 49ers: $26.91MM
  27. Dallas Cowboys: $26.79MM
  28. Baltimore Ravens: $21.35MM
  29. Kansas City Chiefs: $12.65MM
  30. Indianapolis Colts: $11.8MM
  31. Atlanta Falcons: $11.55MM
  32. Cincinnati Bengals: $9.11MM

The Jones release moved more than $13MM of dead cap onto the Giants’ 2024 payroll. More significantly, the Giants granting Jones an early exit — after a contract-driven benching — will prevent the team from designating him a post-June 1 cut next year. The Giants will take on $22.2MM in dead money in 2025, rather than being able to split that bill over two offseasons. The team also took on more than $10MM in dead money this year due to the 2023 Leonard Williams trade.

This year’s most egregious dead money offender has been known for months. The Broncos’ contract-driven Russell Wilson benching last year preceded a historic release, which saddled the team with more than $83MM in total dead money. A small cap credit is set to come in 2025 (via Wilson’s veteran-minimum Pittsburgh pact), but for this year, $53MM in dead cap hit Denver’s payroll as a result of the the quarterback’s release.

The Broncos more than doubled the previous single-player dead money record, which the Falcons held ($40.5MM) for trading Matt Ryan), and they will be on the hook for the final $30MM-plus in 2025. Beyond Wilson, no other ex-Bronco counts more than $7.5MM in dead money. In terms of total dead cap, however, the Broncos barely check in north of the Buccaneers and Rams’ 2023 totals. Denver is trying to follow those teams’ lead in rallying back to make the playoffs despite nearly a third of its 2024 payroll tied up in dead cap.

Twenty-two players represent dead money for the Saints, who have seen their total updated since the Marshon Lattimore trade. Rather than restructure-crazed GM Mickey Loomis using the Lattimore contract once again to create cap space next year, the Saints will take on the highest non-QB dead money hit in NFL history. Lattimore counts $14MM in that category this year before the contract shifts to a whopping $31.66MM in dead cap on New Orleans’ 2025 payroll. Considering the Saints are again in their own sector for cap trouble next year ($62MM-plus over), the Lattimore trade will create some issues as the team attempts to rebound post-Dennis Allen.

Two 2023 restructures ballooned the Vikings’ figure toward $70MM. Void years on Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter‘s deals combined for more than $43MM in dead money. Minnesota also ate nearly $7MM from the void years on Marcus Davenport‘s one-year contract, while the release of 2022 first-rounder Lewis Cine (currently on the Bills’ practice squad) accounted for more than $5MM.

Free from the Tom Brady dead money that comprised a chunk of their 2023 cap, the Bucs still have eight-figure hits from the Carlton Davis trade and Mike Evans‘ previous contract voiding not long before the sides agreed on a new deal. Elsewhere in the NFC South, three of the players given multiyear deals in 2023 — Vonn Bell, Hayden Hurst, Bradley Bozeman — being moved off the roster in GM Dan Morgan‘s first offseason represent nearly half of Carolina’s dead cap.

 

Jets’ Tyron Smith Likely Heading To IR?

November 27th, 2024 at 11:12am CST by Sam Robinson

Injuries continued to intervene during Tyron Smith‘s lengthy second Cowboys contract, playing a central role in why he remained attached to an eight-year deal over its duration. While the accomplished left tackle has been generally available for the Jets, that appears likely to change soon.

Interim Jets HC Jeff Ulbrich said Smith’s neck injury is not healing like the team hoped, calling him (via ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini) “definitely becoming” an IR candidate. Smith has missed only one game this season, marking a better attendance rate than he usually produces. With the Jets disappointing this season, it would make sense if Smith was ultimately shelved.

Smith, 33, went down during the Jets’ Week 10 loss to the Cardinals and missed their Week 11 contest. The former Cowboys staple has missed 49 games since the start of the 2016 season. IR stays have not been too common for Smith, who has fought through nagging injuries for the most part. That said, Smith did miss most of the 2020 and ’22 seasons. The first of those extended IR stints came about because of a neck injury.

After playing two games for the Cowboys in 2020, Smith ended up needing neck surgery. He did return in time for the 2021 slate, a Pro Bowl season, and also bounced back from his 2022 hamstring injury to earn second-team All-Pro acclaim last season. But Smith has run into steady trouble on the injury front, affecting his value on this year’s market.

Then-Jets GM Joe Douglas was surprised Smith accepted a one-year, $6.5MM offer to become New York’s left tackle. He has excelled in the run game with New York, rating first in pass block win rate. He has also been charged with five sacks allowed during his 14th NFL season. With the Jets set to reboot (most likely without Aaron Rodgers) in 2025, it would appear Smith will also need to look for a new home.

As Smith moves closer to another free agency run, an IR stay would stand to hurt both his present and future values. Due to the injury past, the Jets designed a contract based largely on playing time-based incentives. Smith has cleared the first hurdle here (a 38% offensive snap share) and has done well to earn $1MM escalators for hitting the 44% and 50% snap thresholds this season. Smith can earn $1MM more by reaching the 56%, 62%, 68%, 74%, 80%, 86% and 92% benchmarks. An IR stay would restrict him from entering the upper reaches of this tiered structure while also likely giving 2025 suitors pause.

The 2011 first-round pick is likely on his way to the Hall of Fame, but the run of injuries also could prompt him to consider walking away a bit sooner than expected. Before this year’s incentives are factored in, Smith has earned more than $131MM during his career.

Lions To Place WR Kalif Raymond On IR

November 27th, 2024 at 10:21am CST by Sam Robinson

The Lions will be without their primary punt returner for an extended stretch as a result of a Week 12 injury. They are placing Kalif Raymond on IR, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes.

Sustaining a foot injury, Raymond is not expected to miss the rest of the season. The Lions, who have five injury activations remaining, will likely hold one open for their top return man/auxiliary wide receiver moving forward. Raymond is in play to return before the regular season ends, per Rapoport; he would be eligible to come back in Week 17.

A journeyman before coming to Detroit, Raymond was in on the ground floor of Dan Campbell‘s rebuild. The Lions have rostered Raymond since Campbell and GM Brad Holmes arrived in 2021. The veteran wideout has signed three contracts with the team, the most recent a two-year deal worth $10.5MM. That pact runs through the 2025 season.

While Raymond has been one of the NFL’s better punt returners for a while, he has also helped an explosive Lions offense. He has 16 receptions for 204 yards and two touchdowns this season. That came after the 5-foot-8 weapon totaled 489 yards in 2023 and a career-high 616 in 2022. The Lions have turned to Jameson Williams as a regular this season, limiting the opportunities for their tertiary wideouts. Tim Patrick has become a regular in Ben Johnson‘s offense as well.

Raymond, 30, leads the NFL with 390 punt-return yards; this includes a 90-yard TD against the Titans last month. Raymond initially came over from Tennessee in 2021 and has been the Lions’ top punt-return option since arriving. Amon-Ra St. Brown (two) has the only two non-Raymond punt returns for Detroit this season. Both came after Raymond went down. It will be interesting to see if the Lions continue using their No. 1 receiver in that niche role in a non-emergency circumstance this week.

The 10-1 team already has two players — defensive lineman John Cominsky and linebacker Derrick Barnes — out with injuries that may allow for late-season returns. Both are on IR, though the team may need to reassess down the stretch in an effort to avoid burning through all of its activations. A playoff team that uses all eight of its regular-season activations, however, will receive two more in the postseason. That 2024 rule change will allow the Lions more flexibility.

Chargers RB J.K. Dobbins To Miss Time

November 27th, 2024 at 8:33am CST by Sam Robinson

Injuries depressed J.K. Dobbins‘ value as a first-time free agent this offseason, leading to a deal barely north of the veteran minimum. But the Chargers have still used the former Ravens second-round pick as their clear-cut lead back this season.

Another setback will pause Dobbins’ comeback year. The fifth-year back left Monday’s Ravens matchup with a knee injury, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport indicates it is a sprain that will cost the current Bolts RB1 some time. Dobbins will miss this week’s Falcons matchup and is not certain to return the following week. It is an MCL sprain, ESPN’s Adam Schefter clarifies.

A setback for the Chargers, no doubt, though this is not exactly a blindsiding scenario. Dobbins missed 43 games over the course of his rookie contract with the Ravens, many of those absences coming about because of an ACL tear sustained just before the 2021 season.

Dobbins missed all of the ’21 campaign and then saw his return hit speedbumps in 2022, when nine more absences came about due to knee trouble. The Achilles tear Dobbins suffered in Week 1 of last season tanked his market, leading to a one-year deal worth $1.61MM while several other running backs — including two-time teammate Gus Edwards — landed better contracts during a busy offseason at the position.

Dobbins, however, outplayed Edwards to earn the lead Los Angeles role this season. He sits at 4.8 yards per carry (766 in total) with eight rushing touchdowns, including a go-ahead score to propel the Bolts past the Bengals in Week 11. Through 11 Chargers games, Dobbins has already set a single-season high for carries (as a pro) with 158. The former second-round pick’s previous most came as a rookie in 2020, when he handled 134 totes.

It will now be Edwards thrust into a role he was signed to play. Also missing the full 2021 season due to a knee injury, Edwards then missed a chunk of Baltimore’s 2022 season. Unlike Dobbins, however, Edwards was able to stay on the field following his rehab effort. He fetched a two-year, $6.5MM deal on Day 1 of the legal tampering period — one of the most eventful days in RB history — doing so after an 810-yard, 13-touchdown 2023 season with Baltimore.

The Bolts have not seen too much from Edwards, however; he enters Week 13 with just 206 rushing yards (3.3 per carry). Rookie sixth-rounder Kimani Vidal stands to return to the backup role he played during the stretch Edwards missed because of an ankle injury. The Chargers have become increasingly pass-happy in recent weeks, relying on Justin Herbert‘s star-level skillset after initially focusing on the ground game early in Jim Harbaugh‘s tenure.

Dobbins’ injury may increase that aerial reliance over the coming weeks, and although Dobbins’ injury may not be season-ending, his extensive past with ailments may alter the Bolts’ run-game plans for the season’s remainder. Were Dobbins to land on IR, he would miss games against the Chiefs (Week 14) and Broncos (Week 16).

Browns Not Planning HC, GM Changes; Team Aiming To Add Deshaun Watson Competition

November 26th, 2024 at 10:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Cardinals and Titans’ decisions during and after the 2022 season reveal how quickly organizations’ big-picture plans can change. After signing lengthy offseason extensions, Steve Keim and Jon Robinson were out of jobs by January 2023. The Browns’ historic Deshaun Watson misstep would naturally point to consideration into bailing on the extensions given to Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski.

A Browns ownership group known for quick-trigger decisions for a long time finally found a coach-GM pair it deemed worthy of extending. Prior to Stefanski’s arrival, no Browns HC had lasted longer than 40 games; the coach who did persist for that long (Hue Jackson) went 3-36-1. Under the Haslams’ leadership, no GM had lasted longer than two full seasons (John Dorsey). Berry changed that as well. As it stands, the current Cleveland football-ops bosses are on track to extend those tenures.

Although both Browns power brokers were believed to be aligned on the 2022 Watson trade, SI.com’s Albert Breer notes the Haslams are not planning to make GM or HC changes in 2025. Browns ownership has been pleased with the way the duo has kept the team unified, even as this year’s squad has fallen well short of expectations after a 2023 playoff berth and the Browns entering the season with an NFL-most 12 players signed to eight-figure-per-year contracts.

Despite Watson’s poor play appearing to seal the 2022 trade’s place as the worst in NFL history (when finances are considered), the staffers tasked with making it work will be given a chance to rebound — likely with a new starting quarterback. Jimmy Haslam said soon after the trade Berry hatched the plan to fully guarantee the $230MM contract to move the Browns back in the race — after Watson had eliminated Cleveland from consideration in an otherwise-NFC South-based sweepstakes — so it would stand to reason his seat could be hotter than Stefanski’s given the latter’s accolades. Right now, though, neither’s seat appears too warm.

Cleveland’s Jameis Winston-led victory in a snowstorm moved the team to 3-8. This year’s Browns are on pace to check in with a worse record than they did under Freddie Kitchens (6-10). That season keyed Dorsey’s ouster, but it appears the Haslams will be uncharacteristically patient despite the Watson trade set to plague the Browns for at least two more years. The capital Stefanski and Berry have built through playoff berths in 2020 and ’23, both seasons producing Stefanski Coach of the Year nods, looks to be enough for the tandem to survive the historic QB mistake.

On the Watson front, Breer adds the Browns are likely to keep him around — if only because of the unfathomable dead money a 2025 release would bring — but add competition. Rather than bring in a backup as the team has done for three straight years (Jacoby Brissett, Dorian Thompson-Robinson/Joe Flacco, Winston), the Browns are expected to set their sights on a starter-caliber arm who can compete with Watson. Given Watson’s poor performance and Achilles tear, it probably should be expected the Browns will shop for a new starter soon.

This player may well need to be a draft choice, due to Watson’s contract — now featuring two $72.9MM cap numbers thanks to two Berry-authorized restructures — running through 2026. But Breer adds the Browns are likely to gauge the veteran market as well.

Stefanski and Berry stopped short of saying Watson will be expected to start again in 2025, though each factored the struggling QB’s injury rehab into the equation. Watson, however, saw his season end after a string of woeful performances, which brought questions to Stefanski about whether ownership was making him start the disappointing QB. It would cost the Browns $172MM to release Watson next year; even in a post-June 1 scenario, either half of the two-offseason dead money bill would break the record the Broncos recently shattered with their Russell Wilson release ($83MM-plus).

As the Browns prepare to pursue a potential new starter, Watson may be set for another season in limbo. After he requested a Texans trade only to see a slew of sexual assault/misconduct allegations surface, Houston made the former Pro Bowler a healthy scratch throughout the 2021 season. The Browns could slow-play Watson’s rehab by stashing him on the reserve/PUP list to start next season, but eventually a call to bench the sunk-cost passer will need to be made.

A post-June 1 cut scenario now looks more likely to involve 2026. Unless another restructure again knocks down Watson’s cap hit — which is quite possible considering no team has ever carried a $50MM-plus cap number on a payroll in-season — it would cost the Browns $99.8MM to dump Watson in 2026.

It is far from certain Berry and Stefanski will be making the decisions by then, an ownership duo famous for impulsive moves during its first several years in charge is not ready to pull the plug on what had been a successful regime (well, absent a quarterback move that has otherwise defined its run).

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