Deshaun Watson grabbed headlines a year ago by securing $230,000,000 in guaranteed money. Now, another Cleveland Browns star is in the news for a different kind of financial maneuver. Myles Garrett, the standout defensive end for the Browns, has stepped up to help the franchise. His move will make up $12,868,000 in cap space.
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As per ESPN’s Field Yates, this restructured contract will make the Browns become the front-runner in the NFL’s cap space ranking for the year 2023. With more than $35 million in available salary cap room, the Browns now hold the title for the most cap space in the league.
Cleveland Browns Get Financial Makeover via Myles Garrett
The previous contract of Myles Garrett included a base salary of $17.25 million for 2023. This contributed to a substantial $29.176 million cap hit. However, the Browns’ contract restructure has transformed this financial landscape. Apparently, the restructuring was aimed at efficient cap management, rather than any planned signings.
Additionally, the Browns have converted some of Garrett’s future base salaries into optional bonuses. This strategic maneuver is helping the Browns to maintain a balanced cap structure. The contract shuffle comes as a continuation of Garrett’s five-year extension.
The Browns DE signed a $125 million deal back in July 2020. Now, with approving the contract restructuring and bolstering Brown’s cap space, Garrett has displayed his commitment to the Cleveland team through an off-field incident. This comes soon after Browns’ QB Deshaun Watson also restructured his massive $230 million deal.
Deshaun Watson’s Restructured Contract
The Cleveland Browns wanted to change things after the 2021 season. Hence, they got busy in the offseason to ramp up their roster for the 2022 NFL season. Apparently, the Browns gave up multiple first-round draft picks in order to secure the signing of Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans. However, the move came at a significant financial cost for the Browns.
The signing of Watson required a record-breaking contract from the Browns. The QB signed a five-year deal with the Browns. The deal set back the Browns by $230 million, that too fully guaranteed. This contract broke previous records set by quarterbacks Josh Allen and Aaron Rodgers. As one can expect, this deal ended putting a lot of pressure on the franchise. Hence, to free up some cap space, Watson agreed to a contract extension earlier this year.
After the restructured deal, around $35 million in cap space were freed. This happened after Watson’s this year’s $46 million base salary was converted into bonus. The team also added a dummy year to the deal. Watson’s salary for this year will be $1.80 million. While the star players of the team are being generous enough, only time will tell how well they perform this season.
