Leigh Steinberg says Deshaun Watson's $230 million contract has trapped the Cleveland Browns in a cap corner with no exit
When the NFL salary cap functions as a hard budget constraint, fully guaranteed money carries a cost that compounds well past the life of the deal. The Cleveland Browns are living that reality now, four years after trading for…
Key takeaways
- Deshaun Watson's five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract is the largest fully guaranteed deal in NFL history and, per agent Leigh Steinberg, leaves the Browns with no way to escape its cap hit.
- The Browns will carry an $86.2 million cap charge in 2027 for Watson even though he almost certainly will not be on the roster, more than a quarter of the team's entire salary cap.
- Watson played only 19 games over four seasons with a 9-10 starting record and has been sidelined since tearing his right Achilles in October 2024 and re-tearing it in January 2025.
- Cleveland used void years to defer Watson's cap charges, leaving obligations of $25.7 million in 2028, roughly $17 million in 2029, and $8.9 million in 2030.
- The Browns gave up five draft picks, three of them first-rounders, to acquire Watson, who was suspended 11 games in 2022.
When the NFL salary cap functions as a hard budget constraint, fully guaranteed money carries a cost that compounds well past the life of the deal. The Cleveland Browns are living that reality now, four years after trading for Deshaun Watson and signing him to a five-year, $230 million contract, the largest fully guaranteed deal in league history.
Leigh Steinberg, the sports agent inducted into the California Sports Hall of Fame in 2017, explained the structural problem to OutKick. Advanced caponomics, he said, normally allows teams to take a large base salary, attach a new signing bonus, and extend the contract across additional years, spreading the cap charge and freeing room for other signings. Watson's all-guaranteed deal closes that path entirely. "When all the money is guaranteed, there's no way to escape the cap hit," Steinberg said.
The deferred charges come due
The Browns understood the exposure early. To build around Watson while his situation stabilized, the front office used void years to push money into future seasons, keeping near-term cap hits down. Watson's charges ran from $9.4 million in 2022 through $19 million, roughly $28 million, and roughly $36 million in the seasons that followed, reaching $40.2 million this year. The approach gave Cleveland short-term flexibility. Watson, however, played only 19 games across four seasons, posted a 9-10 record as the starter, and has been sidelined since tearing his right Achilles tendon in October 2024 and re-tearing it during rehabilitation in January 2025. The team also surrendered five draft picks to acquire him, three of them first-round selections.
The harder problem arrives next year. Once Watson's contract expires after this season, the Browns will carry an $86.2 million cap charge in 2027 for a player who will almost certainly not be on their roster. That figure alone would represent more than a quarter of the team's entire salary cap, making another restructure close to unavoidable. Charges of $25.7 million in 2028, roughly $17 million in 2029, and $8.9 million in 2030 follow behind it.
In his time with Cleveland, Watson completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 3,365 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. The Browns acquired him while multiple sexual assault allegations from his tenure with the Houston Texans remained unresolved. He was suspended for 11 games in 2022.
Cleveland named Watson its Week 1 starter under new head coach Todd Monken. Steinberg acknowledged that at 30, Watson is not too old to recover, pointing to quarterbacks who have played effectively into their 40s. He left the outcome conditional, though: it is unclear, he said, whether Watson would hold the starting position all season ahead of backup Shedeur Sanders. The $8.9 million charge in 2030 arrives regardless of how this season ends.
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