Last year, 27-year-old Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson made his much-awaited return to the NFL against his former team, the Texans. Although the Browns won the game, Watson had a terrible outing. Notably, the QB missed the entire 2021 season due to his sexual misconduct case. Since then, the Texans traded him to the Browns, and they gave him a fully guaranteed contract. Now, a year later, the Texans are facing huge consequences for the Watson deal.

Earlier, Watson showed great promise when he made his 3rd back-to-back Pro Bowl in 2020; in the same year, he was leading the NFL in passing yards as well. That’s why the Browns traded for him; but even after a year of his trade, the QB is haunting his former team.

The Texans receive a massive fine for Deshaun Watson deal

As per NFL’s latest statement, the Texans are getting a massive fine for a salary cap infraction that occurred in 2020 involving Watson. Hence, the Houston franchise will receive a $175,000 fine; moreover, they will also give up their fifth-round pick for this upcoming NFL Draft in 2023. 

Read More: Years Before His Fall From Grace, Deshaun Watson Actually Helped 20x the Number of People Who’s Accusations Almost Ended His NFL Career Prematurely

The mishap happened when the Texans were paying the QB $26,777 during the 2020 offseason to use a local facility for his conditioning. Because their facility was shut down due to the pandemic. However, the Texans failed to report the compensation to the NFL. It seems like an accounting error more than anything else.

Initially, the fine was around $250,000. After the Texans appealed against it, they got it reduced to $175,000. Through a statement, Texans disagreed with the NFL’s ruling; despite feeling unfair, they said they will cooperate with the league.

The Browns restructured Watson’s deal before the free agency

As per NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the Browns have restructured the QB’s deal to get breathing space in free agency. Notably, the Browns were already $14 million above the regulated salary cap because of Watson’s pre-structured cap hit. Hence, the Cleveland team decided to pay the QB $1.08 million in salary and $44.9 million in signing bonus, which freed up $36 million in cap space for the Browns.

The Browns’ GM Andrew Berry suggested that Watson himself approved the restructuring to get more players in the team and possibly make a good run in the playoffs in the 2023 season. Now it will be interesting to see the Browns’ strategy in free agency and how their GM forms a team for the 2023 season.

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