Inside The Star
Over the last few weeks, the Cleveland Browns have been trying to rally around Shedeur Sanders as their starting quarterback, and while he has been decent, you can’t really judge him after playing the Raiders and the Titans.
With that said, some other news dropped last week about them that makes things very interesting as they head into 2026. The team said they plan to keep Deshaun Watson on the roster, which means they will owe him a total of $46M dollars next year.
Yikes.
Although it has been said Watson won’t play the rest of 2025, the team opened his 21-day practice window.
On Oct. 20, 2024, against the Bengals, Watson tore his right Achilles tendon and underwent surgery within a week.
The Browns in 2026 will have Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and Watson on the roster, potentially battling for the starting job.
Per OverTheCap, Watson will carry an $80.7 million cap hit for 2026, which is the largest number in the history of football.
If the Browns cut Deshaun Watson prior to June 1, 2026, the entire $130 million-plus dead cap would hit the 2026 cap. Obviously, that’s not happening. And the Browns could still do another restructure to free up 2026 cap and kick the can one more time.https://t.co/5qHcoIhGnc https://t.co/5sZ0Ay73UL
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 7, 2025
If he somehow cut before June 1, the Browns would be on the hook for over $130 million in dead money, and to make things worse, the team can’t even make him a post-June-1 cut, they would still save zero money against the cap.
Cleveland is in a very bad spot, and if they end up liking what Shedeur Sanders does the rest of the year, and Watson is ready to play next season, are you really going to let all that money sit on the bench?
Remember when folks had an issue with the money Dallas was paying Dak Prescott, Would you rather be in the spot Dallas is in with him and have the guys they do, plus two first round picks, or be on the hook for a quarterback that might not even play a snap in 2026?
Everyone is ready to crown Sanders because of the last two weeks, but we will see how well he does in the upcoming schedule. They play the Bears and the Bills the next two weeks, and both of those games very well could go sideways in a hurry, and many will have an excuse as to why.
Like I said, just remember that the Dallas Cowboys could be in a very worse spot than they are. I mean this has disaster written all over it as the Cleveland Browns head into the 2026 season. This is not one that I would want to deal with.
