The Cleveland Browns have reportedly upset the other 31 teams in NFL for signing Deshaun Watson to a record-breaking contract. The deal—a five-year, $230 million contract with an $8.9 million signing bonus per year—was inked in March
It was reported that the disappointment from the 31 teams was heightened by Watson managing to bag the money despite being still on a six-game suspension. With the suspension, Watson will lose $344,655, but his signing bonus will not be reduced. In total, he will bag a nearly $45 million signing bonus from the Browns.
According to NBC Sports’ Peter King, one NFL insider said the contract was “rigged” by the Browns. King reported that the six-game suspension punishment for Watson was widely considered minuscule. He said other teams were concerned that it would be a bad precedent for players with similar contract values.
“One influential NFL person told me on this trip that it doesn’t sit well with the league or 31 other owners that the Browns rigged the Watson contract so that his suspension would cause him to lose only a fraction of his 2022 compensation,” he said.
On other hand, ESPN’s Jake Trotter said that the NFL had decided to seek harsher penalties. He said the NFL and all 31 franchises wanted to punish the Browns player with a year of suspension.
According to Sportrac.com, it is uncertain that there will be a longer suspension for Watson. With a total of $230 million guaranteed contract and a $46 million base salary per year for five years, the fine is a “minor loss” for the players.
The five-year deal features a $46 million base salary in each of the next four years, while no guarantees can be voided by future suspensions, per Spotrac.
It is not uncommon for teams to get creative with contracts to reduce the cap hit. Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Tom Brady is set to make $30 million in 2022 despite having just a $1.12 million base salary and $11.9 million cap hit.
On the other hand, the Browns have $47.2 million in cap space available, more than double any other team in the NFL. It is said Watson’s deal was less about helping the team and more about reducing the impact of a likely suspension.
Browns’ response
In March, Browns general manager Andrew Berry said that Watson’s contract is “very similar” to other player contracts. He said that the team structured the contract in accordance with the regulation.
“We understand the optics of it. I think for us after we got comfortable with Deshaun, the contract was really a football decision,” he said. “The things that were important to us from a club perspective were to have Deshaun under contract for another year and to have it structured in a manner that would allow us maximum flexibility to execute the rest of our offseason plan.
“I think probably the other to mention is that structure is very similar to a lot of the larger player contracts we already have on the books.”