Okoronkwo signed a three-year, $19 million deal to join the Browns last offseason, and his salary cap hit in 2024 is a meager $4.1 million. The problem is that Watson’s $230 million albatross of a contract is poised to render bargains like Okoronkwo the mangled casualties of its $64 million cap hit in each of the next three seasons.
If the Browns decide to part ways with Okoronkwo, either via a cut or a trade, they must wait until after June 1 to do so. Moving on before then creates negative financial value, per Over The Cap, while doing so after that date will save Cleveland $2.1 million against the cap in 2024 and $2.75 million in 2025. The dead money hit over those two years — cash for which the organization is still on the hook, but which won’t count against the cap — is a combined $4.55 million.
Meanwhile, Watson is playing on arguably the worst contract in the NFL. The quarterback would be a minus-value player on a much smaller and more manageable deal after making just 12 total starts across two seasons due to an NFL suspension in 2022 and a shoulder injury last year — each costing him 11 regular-season games, respectively.
Unfortunately for the the city of Cleveland and players like Okoronkwo, the Browns made their own bed by signing Watson. Now they have to sleep in it.
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