NFLPA are concerned that Deshaun Watson will be suspended for the entire year

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#Browns QB Deshaun Watson will be suspended for the entire 2022 season, "if not indefinitely."

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If Watson is suspended for a season, his new contract would start next season (called “tolling” in the NFL language) and the five-year deal would run through the end of the 2027 season when the quarterback would be 32 years old.

The salary cap implications for Cleveland would be huge. Currently, Watson is set to count just over $10 million against the team’s salary cap in 2022 but that number jumps to just under $55 million next year. If the NFL hands down a year-long suspension, the Browns save the $10 million in cap space this year and clear almost $45 million in cap space next year.

Currently, both Over the Cap and Spotrac have Cleveland with over $40 million in cap space this year that they can roll over to next year. That jumps to $50 million if Watson is suspended. (That does not include any potential savings if the team is able to trade Baker Mayfield.)

As currently constituted, both sites have the Browns without cap space next year but with the rollover space will have a little room to work. Assuming a year-long suspension for Watson, Cleveland’s 2023 cap space will jump from over $10 million to over $60 million.

If trading Mayfield saves the team $10 million in cap space in 2022, that money would roll over to 2023 and their cap space jumps to $70 million.

While a year-long suspension would be problematic for the team and continue the public relations nightmare, it would clear a lot of cap space for Andrew Berry and company to be creative in 2023.

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