Browns GM Says QB Deshaun Watson’s Contract Could Be Restructured

Cleveland’s franchise QB is due to receive a base salary of $46 million in each of the next four seasons.

The Browns are on the books to pay Deshaun Watson $46 million in base salary for each of the next four seasons, but general manager Andrew Berry didn’t rule out the potential of restructuring the deal ahead of its second season.

Cleveland signed Watson last season to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract. He played in just six games in for the Browns this past season after serving an 11-game suspension, and Berry indicated changes were possible during his Tuesday media session at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. 

“It could be on the table, but there’s a lot of flexibility in terms of what we can do,” Berry said of the possibility of restructuring Watson’s contract, per Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

#Browns Andrew Berry says restructuring Deshaun Watson’s contract is on the table pic.twitter.com/IBMSEC7rSc

— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) February 28, 2023

Including the gargantuan $46 million base salary Watson will collect in 2023, he’ll cost the team $54.993 million against the salary cap. Restructuring his deal could enable the Browns to be bigger players in free agency and help allow the team to build a championship-caliber team to surround the franchise quarterback. 

The 27-year-old completed just 58.2 percent of his passes for 1,102 yards in his six games last season, throwing seven touchdowns and five interceptions. It was his first taste of NFL action since the 2020 season, having sat out the entire year in 2021, his final campaign with the Texans.

Watson’s massive contract was controversial from the start, considering the myriad sexual misconduct accusations and lawsuits involving the quarterback. Now, just one season into the five-year deal, the Browns GM is admitting the team might restructure the contract.