Deshaun Watson 2025 salary: How much will $230,000,000 QB get compensated after Achilles injury?

Deshaun Watson left the game between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, and the expectation from the franchise is that he'll be done for the year with a torn Achilles. He got hurt in a non-contact play, which customarily brings the worst injuries to players.

With his injury, he'll earn his paychecks from the sidelines. In what's becoming one of the biggest financial mistakes in the history of the league, his contract with the Cleveland Browns is fully guaranteed. Counting for $72.9M of the cap in the next two years, Watson is going nowhere.

The way his contract has been set up gives absolutely no chance for the team to try and move him due to his injury. Since joining Cleveland, his performances have been way below average, but head coach Kevin Stefanski is wary of benching him due to his high salary. This problem will return in 2025.

What's Deshaun Watson's salary in the upcoming seasons?

For the final two years of his fully guaranteed five-year deal, the money is structured the same. He has a base salary of $46M, which is the amount he'll receive through weekly paychecks; however, his cap number will also count for $8.93M for signing bonus proration and $17.94M of two prorated years of restructures.

In total, although Watson's base salary for 2025 and 2026 will be $46 million, he'll count for $72.93 million in the salary cap for both seasons.

In principle, those numbers will be the second biggest in both years, as Dak Prescott has a $89.88M cap hit in 2025 and Lamar Jackson has a $74.65M cap hit in 2026. However, the big difference is that those teams will be able to restructure their contracts, while Cleveland doesn't have this option because his deal will.

Of course, the quarterback has no reason to accept any deal where he'll lose money since his contract is fully guaranteed.

In 2023, Joe Flacco took over from Watson and played much better throughout the season. If Jameis Winston does the same in 2024, the deal will look even worse. The expensive mistake gets worse by the day.