The Cleveland Browns had one of the better stretch runs of any NFL team during the 2023 season. They won four straight games before resting their starters in Week 18, and they finished as the 5th seed in the AFC with an 11-6 record when all was said and done. During their hot stretch, their quarterback cemented his place as the NFL Comeback Player of the Year with his stellar play over the final month-plus.
Deshaun Watson Has The Highest Cap Hit In NFL For 2024
#Browns QB Deshaun Watson’s $63.9M cap hit is 25 PERCENT of the league’s new salary cap🤯
(h/t @Spotrac) pic.twitter.com/d011kZPrda
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 25, 2024
Joe Flacco made $2.5 million for his performance. The Browns shelled out $20 million to an entirely different quarterback in 2023, and Deshaun Watson’s cap hit is about to take an enormous hike for the upcoming year.
Cleveland had to pay top dollar to acquire the embattled former Houston Texans quarterback a couple of off-seasons ago. They gave him the most guaranteed money in NFL history, with every penny of his $230,000,000 contract locked in. There were hopes that he could continue being a top-5 quarterback and make the Browns a contender in the AFC, but he has been far from the Pro Bowler and league-leader that he once was.
Watson has started 12 games for Cleveland in two seasons, throwing 14 touchdowns to 9 interceptions. He has a combined completion percentage that is sub-60.
$64 Million Will Be 22% Of Browns’ Total Cash
.@RealTannenbaum thinks the Browns should trade Deshaun Watson to the Giants for Daniel Jones 👀 pic.twitter.com/XoSbp47qv9
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) February 16, 2024
And unless he can make a major turnaround in 2024, he is set to be wildly overpaid for the upcoming year. Deshaun Watson made just $10 million in his first season with the Browns and the aforementioned $20 million last year, but that number is going to balloon when the new league year begins this summer.
His cap hit will increase more than three-fold, skyrocketing all the way to just shy of $64 million. His number represents more than 22% of Cleveland’s total salary, a figure that was even higher before the league announced an increase of the cap for the coming year. It is the highest cap hit in the NFL for 2024, $4 million more than Dak Prescott and $5 million more than Patrick Mahomes.
The Browns will have some work to do in getting under the salary cap this spring, as they are roughly $8 million in the red as of late February. In addition to Watson, they have four players set to make north of $15 million next season.
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