Deshaun Watson to Browns

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by RunKC

If your owner has money, then the salary cap is a myth. This Watson deal was supposed to destroy this team and yet they’ve redone it twice and now have the most cap room in the NFL

Yes and no.

They still have $145 million in salary cap obligations over the next 3 years and have to keep an eye on that horizon with how they SPEND that money. Because if they turn around and spend that $60 million now (which, honestly, is virtually impossible for them) and enter the 2025 season with the 'regular' $260 million cap while Watson accounts for $72 million of it, that's no bueno.

And where it's REALLY an issue, is if they approach Watson at all for a restructure next season or the season after. His leverage is MASSIVE. And it's a headache of Cleveland's own making.

The cap is something that can always be shirked for 2-3 years. And every time you kick the can, things get just a little tighter.

Cap Hell is a real thing. It's gonna eventually happen to you. But where the 'myth' comes is that Cap Hell should destroy a team for a sustained period of time. It doesn't.

One year of slash and burn can almost always clean a cap sheet. I wouldn't have been opposed to us being more aggressive this season with an eye on just such a season in/around 2027. We just go scorched earth that season and hack away at everyone we can. Accelerate a bunch of shit onto the cap, win 6 games and then jam the accelerator again in 2028.