Deshaun Watson hasn't played for the Cleveland Browns since 2024.
The Cleveland Browns have restructured the contract of QB Deshaun Watson, according to ESPN.
Cleveland is freeing up close to $36 million in cap space and makes the team cap compliant ahead of the new league year.
Watson, who did not play in 2025 as he rehabbed an Achilles tear from the 2024 season, was set to have an $80.7 million cap hit in 2026, the largest in the NFL.
Watson, 30, is owed a fully guaranteed $46 million salary in 2026. He originally signed a five-year deal worth a fully guaranteed $230 million deal upon being traded to Cleveland before the 2022 season.
Suspension and injuries have limited Watson to 19 games since he arrived in Cleveland. Since making his Browns debut, Watson has posted a 33.1 Total QBR, which would be the lowest among qualified passers.
A Clemson product, Watson has 3,365 passing yards and 19 passing touchdowns with Cleveland. He's thrown 12 interceptions.
A former star with the Houston Texans, Watson will compete with Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel for the Browns' starting spot next season.
"Anytime that you have a player that at one time has exhibited the skill set at an elite level," first-year Browns coach Todd Monken said of Watson. "I think you're always going to give them the benefit of the doubt that somehow we might be able to get that out of him again, and I think that's how you should look at every player."
Watson has 17,904 passing yards and 123 passing touchdowns in the NFL with the Texans and Browns. He was the 12th overall pick in the 2017 draft.
Cleveland went 5-12 last season. Monken replaces Kevin Stefanski, who was fired and joined the Atlanta Falcons as their new HC.
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