The Browns have added Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett to their quarterback room this offseason, and the club may still select a rookie passer in this month’s draft. Deshaun Watson has performed poorly during his Cleveland tenure, and with his 2025 availability in doubt, it is eminently possible that he will not play another down for the club.
Recent comments made by Browns co-owner Jimmy Haslam – the first time anyone within the organization publicly admitted the historic and controversial Watson acquisition is a failure – further reinforce that possibility, as ESPN.com’s Daniel Oyefusi writes. Of course, because of Watson’s contract – which was recently restructured for immediate salary cap relief – even a 2026 release with a post-June 1 designation would create a dead money charge of nearly $81MM without any cap savings.
As such, Oyefusi says Watson could stay on the Browns’ roster for the remainder of his thru-2026 deal, though any decisions in that regard will not be made for at least another year. Haslam said the team needs to determine Watson’s health status before making a call, and in the meantime, the 29-year-old passer is rehabbing his Achilles tear.
While the current financial picture related to Watson’s contract looks bleak, there is a real possibility that the situation will improve. We had previously touched on the insurance the club had taken out on Watson’s contract, and as Oyefusi reiterates, the insurance policy allowed Cleveland to obtain cap relief for 2024 after Watson missed 11 games due to injury in 2023. Likewise, the team has realized a small credit for the time Watson missed in 2024.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk adds further context. According to Florio, Watson’s deal contains an addendum that allows the team to recover over $58MM for an injury occurring between the start of the 2024 offseason program and the start of the 2025 offseason program (Watson sustained his season-ending Achilles tear in October 2024 and suffered a second tear in January 2025, and both occurrences fall within the addendum’s timeline). Most of the potential recovery (over $44MM) stems from Watson’s fully-guaranteed salary of $46MM for 2025.
In other words, if Watson is unable to play in 2025, and if the Browns’ prospective claim against the insurance policy is successful, Cleveland could get back over $44MM in cash with a corresponding credit to its cap sheet. Given the stakes involved, though, the insurance carrier may well attempt to find an exclusion or exception that would justify denial of the claim.
Assuming Watson does not engineer a dramatic turnaround to become a quality starting quarterback for the Browns, he will become a free agent at some point in the relatively near future. When that happens, he may not find another NFL opportunity.
Per Oysefusi, executives and agents from around the league have said it is possible that no team will bring Watson on board, even if he is completely healthy.
“If released, I don’t see anyone picking him up,” one NFC executive said. “And then, down the road, the question will be, will he take low-QB money? Would he even be motivated to play at that point?”
A prominent agent offered a different take, saying, “[t]he league is forgiving with quarterbacks that have exhibited high-level talent. There is a shortage of good QB play. That’s why I think a team could take a chance on him if he proves healthy. Some owners could have a problem with that because of the past, but not all.”
The agent makes a fair point, but it has been a few years since Watson has exhibited high-level talent. So while the Browns’ search for their next long-term quarterback and a way out of their now-infamous contractual misstep are the more pressing storylines, it is fair to wonder if Watson has already taken his last snap.
The league has not been forgiving to Colin Kaepernick, but he did something so egregious like peacefully protesting. Deshaun is a saint compared to that 🙃🙃🙃
Lol so true. One of these things is definitely not like the other.
Don’t forget Justin Tucker
Yes, he did. He stopped being good at football.
Egrgious like protesting while wearing his employer’s uniform on national TV and pissing off half of their customers. Talk about toxic!
His employer was the one who decided they’d have a political ceremony before every game.
The national anthem is a political ceremony?
It’s a nationalistic one. Not sure that’s 1:1 political. Guess it depends on your politics
Kaepernick was never blackballed. That’s an excuse he’s used for years to deflect from the fact that he was never actually a good QB and was so entitled he never tried to get better as a passer. He was known for being the last one in and first one out type.
He didn’t start sitting on the bench during the anthem until he was about to get cut in preseason.
Well
When your resume includes
Calling Lamar Houston the N Word
Insulting millions of Cubans who risked life and death to escape Castros oppressive regime by openly praising his policies
Refusing to take a pay cut to play for the Broncos
Supporting your GF calling the Ravens owner racist and franchise icon ray lewis an Uncle Tom
Defenses leaving wide receiver wide open by blitzing dbs cause they know you can’t complete passes
Yeah it’s a wonder why Kaepernick never found work again. Total mystery.
And he’d have easily gotten away with all of the other stuff if he was a good QB rather than one of the worst passers in the entire league.
You must have forgotten that Nathan Peterman was an NFL QB during this time.
Nathan Peterman wasn’t a primadonna who thought he was a star. Nice try though.
It is wild to me how people like Mark Smith above just invent facts that never occurred to fit their warped views.
Kapernick demanded his release from the Niners and they granted it. He was offered another job in the league with the Ravens. They wanted him as a backup because his skills had declined so bad, but they also said there would be a chance to win the job from Flacco.
He initially accepted. Then his girlfriend went on a Twitter rant blasting the Ravens and they said forget about it.
He then demanded only starting jobs at a huge salary, which no one wanted to give to a washed up QB. He then told this story about how it was about taking a knee.
It wasn’t. Stop with your nonsense.
Kaepernick was never good to begin with with. Having a really good team and D with Jim H the quarterback whisperer made him look better than he was. As the seasons went on and teams had more tape of him, he got exposed. Never forget Rex Grossman took the Bears to the SB too.
“Given the stakes involved, though, the insurance carrier may well attempt to find an exclusion or exception that would justify denial of the claim.”
So, you have to either root FOR insurance companies denying claims OR for the Browns being saved from their own vile stupidity regarding DeShaun Watson…?
Imagine a society where insurance companies just had to cover the people they insure and where a POS like Watson can’t get a job at Taco Bell let alone the NFL and where a criminal like Haslam is actually punished instead of rich.
Crazy, I know…but…
I don’t think we have to root for anyone here. The insurance carrier wrote a policy which the Browns agreed to (and paid for). If the claim falls within the parameter of the policy details, the carrier will pay. The only thing to root for is getting Watson out of the league and in the rear view mirror.
Tyreek Hill and Frank Clark as well then.
Justin Tucker
66TheNumberOfTheBest • 7 hours ago
Crazy, I know…but…
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I don’t understand the remark. Almost everyone in the country has insurance. Do people actually for one side or another?
You do if you want to be edgy or rebel against mommy and daddy by pretending to hate capitalism.
Feigning ignorance to lick the boots of insurance companies who routinely deny claims and allow people to deteriorate, suffer and die to make an extra buck is a really beta move.
But some footstools think bragging about how much they can endure to make their bosses rich is what makes them manly, I guess.
Feigning being a working class hero or class warrior just like Luigi did is a really beta move that shows you grew up comfortable.
I haven’t been able to afford insurance at all as an adult and grew up working class. I also work two low paying jobs to try to get ahead.
I am not impressed by you.
Capitalism is awesome for deciding Coke vs. Pepsi.
If you think it should decide who lives and dies, you’ve been brainwashed into moral bankruptcy.
Which given that you appear to be defending rather than lamenting a system that doesn’t care if you specifically live or not seems to be a safe assumption.
Go live in a socialist country then.
It’s really easy to whine about capitalism and call people bootlickers when you’ve never lived the life of the lower classes in either a capitalist or socialist country.
Cosplayer.
I literally live in one now…so do you.
What do you think roads, bridges, schools, the police, the military, etc. etc. are?
Socialist.
I guess you have to move to Somalia to achieve your dreams.
The free market doesn’t think you deserve to live and you agree. Have fun, I guess.
Bridges and roads aren’t socialist. They’re public services to help the commerce and the economy. Schools to educate everyone is socialist? Now the military is socialist? That’s just a really bad, God-awful, head scratching take.
Revenues (taxes) are collected and “redistributed” and used for the public good and/or collective benefit of society, what do you call that?
Do you individually pay for any of the above listed things? If not, then how are they “capitalist”?
Even better question…is Medicare “socialist”?
Roads were built for one reason and one reason only. Commerce and trade. Has nothing to do with whatever political system. We have basic social safety nets like social security and Medicare, but no system is 100% pure.
It actually does, though…see…
Did you have to build your own road? No? It was built for you using a little of all of our money pooled collectively for the greater good? There is a name for that and it’s not capitalism.
Is Medicare socialist? Yes or no?
Nice try but roads aren’t socialist. Neither are public bathrooms or traffic signals. Silly argument. Medicare is a safety net. As mentioned there are no 100% pure economic systems. Ask China and Vietnam about their market based economics. Not very communist because communism doesn’t work.They have roads too, does that make roads communist?
Medicare is a (socialist) safety net, yes.
Do you support or oppose Medicare?
Should we have it in America?
66TheNumberOfTheBest • 3 hours ago
Capitalism is awesome for deciding Coke vs. Pepsi.
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And how does that differ from insurance companies? You get to choose the best soda, and you get to choose the best insurer.
66TheNumberOfTheBest • 4 hours ago
Feigning ignorance to lick the boots of insurance companies who routinely deny claims
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Just so you know, most large companies are largely self-insured, and the insurance provider acts much more as a gatekeeper than an insurer.
So, you are cool letting people die if other people can make (save) a buck. You like that.
Good news for you, I guess.
Are you referring to me, because I certainly never said that. If you’d care to respond to any of my remarks, please feel free to do so.
So basically after 2 years of Aaron Rodgers the Steelers next cheap mediocre QB that gets them to 9-8
“Given the stakes involved, though, the insurance carrier may well attempt to find an exclusion or exception that would justify denial of the claim.” This isn’t how insurance works, it’s how people who know nothing about insurance think insurance works. This type of coverage should be pretty straightforward. It’s either covered or it’s not. Unless he got hurt doing activities that were not football related they should recover that money. Then it depends on how much time he misses to trigger the policy.
The Far Left wants to imply politics in everything. If the contract says you get $1,000 if you break your left big toe, then you get $1,000 if you break your left big toe.
Between the NFL and the insurers probably have gone through a few thousand policies and it is probably pretty routine.
I’d like to see proof/evidence that an insurance claim would lessen the CAP hit in any way. Yes, it could help the financials of the Browns but I can’t help but think that any “CAP”: implications would be lessened.
Let’s say I sign a Top WR to a $1m year contract with a $30m bonus for 1 yard receiving. I take out an “Insurance” for hitting the bonus…yeah it will likely cost over $30m per year for insurance, but is the writer’s claim now that the team is only hit with $1m on Cap charges? AFAIK, the ONLY way to recover any Cap Hit is for the player to NOT get the money or need to get it back due to not honoring the contract…(Such as a Holdout. Injury doing prohibited activity outside football like skydiving, etc.)
The cap relief comes from what’s referred to as a refund from the player, even though the player isn’t making the payments the insurer is. And it’s credited on the cap the year after it happens. So if insurance pays 44MM in 2025, the Browns get the credit in 2026
link to espn.com
The Browns have been/still are a joke of an organization for years.
For being willing to bring this guy on AND pay him what they did, they are fully deserving of this.
Fully deserving of what? Salary cap relief? This is a positive for the Browns
If they can find loopholes to deny people insurance claims for homes burned down, they can figure it out for a Watson claim.
No claims were denied. Policies weren’t being renewed because of poor city/state resource management
Plus3 • 1 hour ago
No claims were denied. Policies weren’t being renewed because of poor city/state resource management
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I once again feel that a lot of people misread this. If you have trouble obtaining insurance for your beach house, it is probably because you are too prone to storms and flooding. Same if you are living next to a fire hazard, volcano, etc.
Insurance companies are under no obligation to insure bad risks.
Just so you know, if insurance companies didn’t pay out claims, they would have no business. The only reason people have insurance insurance is because they know they will be paid off. If insurance companies didn’t pay, they’d have no revenue.