One of the main challenges facing the Cleveland Browns as they get ready for the summer is the salary cap. The Browns are over $20.6 million in salary cap before free agency even opens, which makes their financial situation disastrous, to put it mildly. This is according to Spotrac.
NFL players now earn more money than they have in the past, but not all of them live up to their contracts. In light of that, take a look at the three worst contracts the Browns will have to deal with this offseason.
It’s likely that you knew Deshaun Watson would be on the list if you had simply looked at the headline of this post. After all, the Browns’ current financial situation is primarily due to his enormous $63,977,000 cap hit in 2024. Hell, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the winner of three Super Bowls, will make almost $5.1 million more than that in the upcoming season.
Nobody would be grumbling about Watson’s salary cap hit if he was performing at a level comparable to that of Mahomes. The primary problem was that, this season, a nearly 40-year-old Joe Flacco outperformed Watson. Granted, the 28-year-old had to cope with a season-ending injury, but let’s take a quick look at the stats of the two quarterbacks.
According to Spotrac, the Cleveland Browns are almost $20.6 million over the salary cap as they head into the NFL offseason. These are the three worst contracts they will have to deal with in the coming months.
It’s obvious that Watson’s play, even if he stays healthy for all 17 games, can’t match his price tag, even if you ignore his long (and pretty significant) list of off-field problems. Cleveland has a financial roadblock this offseason since releasing him would result in huge cap fines. Until 2026 at the latest, the Browns cannot release Watson without incurring millions of dollars in debt.
Given that Watson’s contract is already fully guaranteed, it’s unlikely that he will agree to renegotiate it, therefore it’s clear how his contract restricts the Browns’ potential.
