Insurance Policy Raises Strong Possibility Deshaun Watson Has Played His Final Game For The Cleveland Browns

PALM BEACH – The Cleveland Browns spent the first day of the NFL annual meeting addressing other issues, including whether they'd be willing to trade from their No. 2 overall pick in the draft to No. 1 when, in fact, the biggest issue on the team's agenda remains whether Deshaun Watson should ever play another game for the team.

If the Browns are smart, they already have a clear answer, and it would be an understandable and emphatic, no way.

But the Browns aren't going to be transparent about that now.

Cleveland Browns  Executive VP of Football Operations and GM Andrew Berry talks to the media at the 2024 NFL Combine.

(Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports)

Berry: Watson Will Miss ‘Significant’ Time

They're playing their proverbial cards close to the vest and doing everything except saying what seems obvious: That Watson is toast in Cleveland.

For the record, general manager Andrew Berry spent a couple of seconds addressing the Watson situation when he met with reporters on Sunday.

"…We know he's going to miss a significant portion of this season," Berry said, "but I wouldn't necessarily put, at least at this point when it's still fairly early in the recovery process, [a timetable on it]. 

"I just think it's too early to put a timetable on it or at least a definitive timetable on it."

Here's a timetable the Browns should put on it: Never.

CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 10:  Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns celebrates a rushing touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first half at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 10, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Watson Experiment Should Be Over

That's the only timetable that makes most sense for a club that invested three first-round picks and a fully guaranteed $230 million contract on Watson and gotten nothing in return except unwanted scrutiny for his 2022 suspension, the embarrassment of poor performance and multiple injuries, and even some derision from NFL owners who were angry about Watson's unprecedented deal.

Ending the Watson experiment is the only sensible thing for a team that has gotten only 19 games, 19 touchdowns and nine victories in three seasons from Watson.

It's not easy to think this way because of the team's huge investment in the player. But it's right because the Browns have been given an opportunity. 

Fate, you see, has granted them a chance to mitigate the damage they did to themselves via Watson's contract. The club wisely bought insurance that grants them cap relief if Watson misses a certain number of games each season.

The club collected on that policy in 2024 after Watson missed 11 games in 2023.

CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 20: Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns is taken off the field on a medical cart in the second quarter of a game against the Cincinnati Bengalsat Huntington Bank Field on October 20, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Browns Bought Insurance On Watson

Watson's contract, which OutKick examined on Sunday, provides for up to $44.2 million in insurance on his 2025 salary. So the club could benefit between $37 million and $44.2 million in 2026 cap relief if Watson misses this entire season.

That would mean Watson's salary cap number, currently scheduled to be $81.6 million in 2026 could drop to the mid $40s or lower.

And that would allow the club to walk away from Watson next year with a more manageable cap hit on a post-June 1 release. 

Yes, the Browns would be paying for Watson's remaining $91 million in dead cap in increments until 2030. But they will have effectively written the final chapter on his time in Cleveland even if their bookkeepers continue to deal with his cap hits for a while.

In that regard, the re-rupture of the Achilles injury that Watson suffered in January after he originally ruptured it on Oct. 20, is an opportunity for the team.

It gives them an escape hatch that is much less burdensome than it might otherwise be.

So do the Browns take the exit?

Watson Might Not Be Ready All Season

It might happen organically. Even though Watson has been seen in social media videos already working out, there is no telling if he will indeed be able to pass a physical at any time in 2025.

If he cannot pass a physical, collecting on the insurance policy is a done deal.

The next few months will offer more clarity but, best case scenario, Watson will open the season on the physically unable to perform list. That would give him an opportunity to play if he can get medically cleared.

If Watson cannot clear medically, it will almost certainly be over for him. The Browns would have a decision to make less than one year from now whether to bring back a player who missed the previous 27 games because of multiple Achilles tears and was struggling even before those injuries, or simply move on. 

The answer would be clear.

The clear answer would mean Deshaun Watson has played his final game for the Browns.