Deshaun Watson 'New Contract' with Browns? It's Not About 'Unselfishness' from Texans Ex
It is a common misconception about the wealthiest NFL players' contracts ... and the players and their agents would love to keep it that way.
But no, it is highly unlikely that Deshaun Watson's "willingness'' to re-do his contract to make more cap room for teammates has anything to do with "willingness.''
Or "unselfishness.''
It is called by some teams "flipping a switch.'' Our friend TexasCap terms it more officially, "automatic conversion rights.'' And what does it mean? Simply, that build into the big contracts - and Watson's $230 million fully guaranteed deal with the Cleveland Browns, put into place last year as a part of his trade from the Houston Texans - are team options to move money.
"Salary'' becomes "bonus,'' which changes the way the player's salary impacts the cap in a given year.
But it changes nothing in terms of the player's actual income - the money is, in a sense, simply being moved from his left pocket to his right pocket.
And the team doesn't have to "ask'' or "negotiate'' or "beg'' the player to allow the money to be moved. It is done at the discretion of the team, a pre-fab way of creating room down the line.
It is through no fault of Watson (or his contemporaries) that these sort of circumstances are viewed as the player "giving up money.'' But the players and the agents are happy to leave the misunderstanding just as it is.
In Watson's particular case, his current cap number is about $53 million, and there are "switches to flip'' that can reduce his cap impact to around $21 million.
But it's a math trick, not a sacrifice; Watson is still getting his $230 million, trust us on that.
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