During Thursday’s #PFTPM, I addressed this question from Twitter: “How much cap space did the Browns save due to the insurance policy on Deshaun Watson for him missing the entire 2025 season?”
The answer, as contained in the attached video, was simple: I don’t know, but I’ll try to find out.
Here’s what I found out, so far.
And I’ve broadened it beyond 2025, to include all cap space the Browns have saved.
In 2022, he missed no games due to injury; he was suspended for 11 games and played in the remaining six.
The March 2023 restructuring of Watson’s original five-year deal with the Browns contains an “Insurance Addendum,” which permits the Browns to purchase: up to $91,801,463 in insurance covering 2023, 2024, and 2025 for an injury occurring between the signing of the contract and the start of the 2023 offseason program; up to $82,451,463 in insurance covering 2023, 2024, and 2025 for any injury occurring from the first day of the 2023 offseason program to the beginning of the 2024 offseason program; up to $58,176,466 in insurance covering 2024 and 2025 for any injury occurring from the start of the 2024 offseason program to the start of the 2025 offseason program; and up to $33,901,460 in insurance covering 2025 for any injury occurring from the first day of the 2025 offseason program until the final game of the 2025 regular season.
Enter NFLPA records, which PFT has obtained. The records contain Watson’s full contract and cap breakdowns from 2023 through, ultimately, 2030. They show — in multiple locations — a “return of [signing bonus] from insurance policy.”
Under the breakdown of Watson’s March 13, 2023 renegotiation, NFLPA records show an $8.79 million credit in 2024 for the return of signing bonus from insurance.
For Watson’s August 28, 2024 renegotiation, NFLPA records reiterate the $8.79 million credit in 2024.
Under the breakdown of Watson’s December 27, 2024 renegotiation, NFLPA records repeat the $8.79 million credit for 2024, along with an $8.79 million credit for 2025, and $8.781 million credit in 2026, an $8.755 million credit in 2027, and an $8.755 million credit in 2028.
Watson’s March 5, 2025 renegotiation adds another $7.983 million credit for 2025, another $7.992 million for 2026, another $8.018 million for 2027, another $7.983 million credit for 2028, and a $7.983 million credit for 2029.
The most recent renegotiation, from March 6, 2026, adds another $4.951 million credit for 2026.
Confused? We certainly were.
It took a little while to figure it out. As best we can tell, it appears that the Browns will have received, from 2024 through 2029, the following cap credits: $8.79 million (for 2024), $8.79 million (for 2025), $7.983 million (for 2025), $8.781 million (for 2026), $7.992 million (for 2026), $4.951 million (for 2026) $8.755 million (for 2027), $8.018 million (for 2027), $8.755 million (for 2028), $7.983 million (for 2028), and $7.983 million (for 2029).
That’s a total in cap credit for 2024 through 2029 of $88.781 million. Which also reflects, presumably, the insurance benefits received by the Browns on Watson’s five-year, $230 million deal.
The payments flow from the shoulder injuries Watson suffered in 2023, and the torn Achilles tendon he sustained in October 2024. (The Achilles tendon was re-torn later.)
In all, Watson missed 11 games due to injury in 2023, 10 in 2024, and all 17 in 2025.
Thus, while the trade for Watson and the five-year, $230 million, fully-guaranteed contract combine to create one of the single worst transactions in NFL history, the Browns’ decision to purchase insurance (the premiums for which surely weren’t cheap) resulted in more than $88 million in refunds for the games Watson missed due to injury.
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