“It stunned GMs and Presidents” Peter King believes Deshaun Watson’s massive guaranteed contract will cause problems for teams across the league
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Deshaun Watson
Deshaun Watson is in quite an odd spot right now. The Cleveland Browns made a blockbuster trade to get him out of Houston and then gave him a 5-year $230 million contract that is fully guaranteed. Peter King shared his thoughts on why other teams won’t like the big deal.
Deshaun Watson was already on the bad side of numerous people given the fact he is still facing 22 active civil suits with accusations of sexual misconduct. Even if things work out for him on that front, he is sure to get a suspension from the NFL. So the Browns have given this huge commitment to someone who is seen by many as someone who doesn’t deserve it.
About the trade, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was quoted saying “We spent a tremendous amount of time exploring and investigating the opportunity to trade for Deshaun Watson. Our team’s comprehensive evaluation process was of utmost importance due to the sensitive nature of his situation and the complex factors involved.” So clearly, they feel like they’ve looked into it enough and the huge contract is justified.
While the Browns feel like the contract makes sense, Peter King along with some general managers believe it isn’t a good move.
Peter King claims general managers will look to dismiss Deshaun Watson’s contract when negotiating new deals
Peter King recently published an article about Deshaun Watson’s contract reading “The next two quarterbacks likely to be in line for mega-deals, Joe Burrow of Cincinnati and Justin Herbert of the Chargers, are employed by owners that have football as the family business. Mike Brown (Bengals) and Dean Spanos (Chargers) don’t have anywhere near the liquidity of teams with money from other businesses behind them; Haslem, for instance, is a truckstop magnate.”
King further added “The guarantee for Watson stunned GMs and club presidents—I can tell you that. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ contract is 19-percent guaranteed. Buffalo QB Josh Allen’s is 39-percent guaranteed. It’s likely that when it comes time for Burrow or Herbert to do a new deal (they’re eligible after the 2022 season), the teams will argue that Watson’s deal is a one-off and they can’t do that.”
Something worth noting is what Ravens owner, Steve Bisciotti said about the contract “I don’t know that he should’ve been the first guy to get a fully guaranteed contract. To me, that’s something that is groundbreaking, and it’ll make negotiations harder with others.”
He’s someone that is trying to lock up Lamar Jackson’s contract currently and obviously isn’t happy about Watson’s contract. Whether or not it will mean players like Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert get big guarantees as well is yet to be seen but it’s hard to imagine how they can’t. It might not be like Watson’s but, it will certainly be up there.
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Roshan Anand
(278 Articles Published)