BREAKING NEWS: Russell Wilson release has made the Browns to part ways with Deshaun Watson
Russell Wilson will be taking the biggest cap hit of his career when he leaves the Broncos, but will this allow the Browns to release Deshaun Watson?
On Monday, there was some very significant NFL news. This has nothing to do with the rumors circulating that Justin Fields would be of interest to the Cleveland Browns.
Rather, it was the Denver Broncos declaring that, after just two seasons with the organization, Russell Wilson would be released.
The quantity of dead money is shocking, even though the breakup isn’t a huge surprise.
Wilson will hold the record for the most dead money in league history after agreeing to a five-year, $245 million contract in 2022. In essence,
the Broncos will use up $85 million in cap space in order to get rid of Russ’s cooking.
Wilson will be free to sign elsewhere but it’s hard to see his market being very strong right now. Overall,
his numbers were fine in Denver but the team just didn’t respond to him as a leader.
Does Russell Wilson release mean anything for Deshaun Watson and the Browns?
It’s natural for Cleveland fans to quickly wonder if the Broncos willingness to take on $85 million in dead money would mean their team would be
willing to take the hit to move on from Deshaun Watson, who is easily the least popular man in the NFL.
In 2022, Watson was also added, following Cleveland’s loss of Wilson. Their initial goal was the former Seahawk, but it is said that he turned down the team’s offer.
Subsequently, they focused on Watson and managed to execute an unforeseen sensational deal. The fully guaranteed $235 million, five-year contract came next.
Watson’s contracts were mocked from the beginning, and despite the fact that players like Wilson got more money, Watson is untouchable because of his pledges.
Given what would happen to the Browns if Watson was cut, even Wilson’s $85 million in dead money seems like a good deal.
Spotrac claims that the following hits to the cap space would result from his release as a Post-June 1 cut:
2024 Dead Money: $155.98 million
2024 Cap Savings: -$92 Million
2025 Dead Money: $44.9 million
Even finding a trading partner — as many have suggested — would do little to help. That would give them a dead cap hit of just $17.98 million this season with $46 million in savings — which sounds nice.
That is until you see the $46 million cap hit in 2025. That’s more manageable but it would also involve finding a team willing to pay the remainder of his deal.
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