Let’s be real for a second. When the Cleveland Browns pulled the trigger on that trade for Deshaun Watson back in 2022, they didn’t just change their roster. They changed the entire financial landscape of the NFL, and not necessarily in a way other owners appreciated.
We’ve all seen big contracts. We’ve seen "record-breaking" deals. But the Deshaun Watson contract guaranteed money situation is a completely different beast. It’s a $230 million fully guaranteed wall that the Browns are currently staring at, and honestly, there is no easy way over, under, or around it.
The $230 Million Number Everyone Remembers
Usually, when an NFL player signs a massive deal, the "headline" number is a bit of a lie. A guy might sign for $200 million, but only $100 million is actually "real" money—the stuff he gets even if he gets cut tomorrow. The rest is often "fluff" based on roster bonuses or non-guaranteed base salaries in the final years of the deal.
Not here.
The Browns gave Watson a five-year, $230 million contract where every single cent was fully guaranteed at signing. That means whether he throws 50 touchdowns or 50 interceptions, whether he’s healthy or (as we’ve seen lately) sidelined with a torn Achilles, he gets paid. In full.
Why the Cap Hits Look So Messy Right Now
If you look at the 2026 salary cap projections, the numbers for Watson are enough to make a GM faint. We’re talking about a cap hit of roughly $80.7 million.
How did we get there?
Basically, the Browns have been "kicking the can" down the road. Every year, they restructure the deal. They take a huge chunk of his base salary and turn it into a signing bonus. This is a common NFL trick—it lets you spread the cap hit over future years instead of taking it all at once.
But you can only do that for so long.
By the time we hit 2026, those "future years" have arrived. Because the team kept pushing money back to stay under the cap in 2023, 2024, and 2025, the 2026 season has become a massive financial bottleneck.
Can They Just Cut Him?
This is the question every Browns fan asks after a bad game. "Can we just move on?"
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Well, sure, they can. But the math is terrifying.
If Cleveland were to release Watson today, they wouldn't just be out the cash; they’d be hit with a "dead money" charge that could exceed $131 million. To put that in perspective, that’s about half of an entire team’s salary cap spent on one guy who isn't even in the building.
- Pre-June 1 Cut: Instant cap suicide. The team would effectively be unable to sign a full roster.
- Post-June 1 Cut: This spreads the pain over two years, but you’re still looking at massive hits (think $80 million in 2026 and $50 million in 2027) for a player who is gone.
Honestly, the only "out" the Browns have is something very few people talk about: insurance.
Reports from insiders like Kalyn Kahler at ESPN have suggested that the Browns, like many teams with massive QB contracts, have an insurance policy on Watson. If his injuries—specifically that recurring Achilles issue—prevent him from playing, the team might recover a significant chunk of the actual cash.
However, insurance pays the owner’s bank account, not the salary cap. The cap hits stay unless there’s a specific settlement or a "conduct detrimental" clause that actually sticks in court. And after multiple restructures, those legal avenues are narrower than they used to be.
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Deshaun Watson Contract Guaranteed Money: The 2026 Reality
As we stand here in 2026, Watson is essentially a permanent fixture on the books. The team has already paid out the vast majority of the cash. In fact, by the end of this year, he’ll have pocketed around $184 million of that $230 million.
The remaining $46 million for 2026 is just the final piece of the cash puzzle, but it’s the cap accounting that is the real nightmare.
The Shedeur Sanders Factor
Adding more drama to the mix is the quarterback room itself. With the Browns looking at younger options—like Shedeur Sanders—the team is in a weird spot. They have a rookie-scale contract potentially starting games while the Deshaun Watson contract guaranteed money still looms over every single decision they make.
It’s the ultimate "rookie contract" hack, but in reverse. Usually, you have a cheap QB so you can spend big on a defense. The Browns have a potentially cheap QB because they already spent the money on a guy who might not be the starter.
What Happens Next?
The "actionable" part of this for anyone following the team or the business of football is understanding that the Browns have very few moves left.
- One Last Restructure: They could potentially add "void years" to the end of the contract (dummy years past 2026) to spread that $80 million cap hit even further. It doesn't save money; it just delays the bill.
- The "Sunk Cost" Decision: At some point, the team might decide that the roster spot is more valuable than the cap savings. They might cut him and just eat the $80 million hit in 2026, essentially "punting" that season to clear the books for the future.
- The Trade (The Longshot): No team is taking on this contract without Cleveland sending over multiple first-round picks just to get rid of the money—similar to the Brock Osweiler trade years ago, but on steroids.
The bottom line? Cleveland is in a financial cage of its own making. The fully guaranteed nature of this deal was a gamble that the QB play would justify the cost. So far, that gamble hasn't paid off, leaving the front office to manage one of the most complex salary cap puzzles in sports history.
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If you're tracking the Browns' moves this offseason, watch the "Post-June 1" designation dates. That is the only window where a move becomes even remotely possible without the team completely folding its 2026 season.
Check the official NFL salary cap trackers like OverTheCap or Spotrac regularly, as the specific "dead money" numbers shift every time the Browns convert a base salary into a bonus. These adjustments happen quietly, but they are the only reason the team is able to field a competitive roster right now.