Never before has an NFL player’s cap hit exceeded $39 million. That all changes this year.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson‘s $54,993,000 cap hit in 2023 will be the largest for any player in NFL history.
Watson will hit the Browns’ cap for the same $54,993,000 every single season through 2026 as part of his 5 year, $230 million contract — of which every dollar was guaranteed.
- Watson's cap hit represents 21.7% of the Browns' total salary cap
- Watson's odds to win MVP this season are +3000
- The Browns' odds to win the Super Bowl are +4000
To acquire Watson, the Browns traded three 1st round draft picks (2022, 2023, 2024), a 3rd round pick (2023), and two 4th round picks (2022, 2024)
2023 NFL Cap Hit Rankings
| Rank | Player | Cap Hit | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deshaun Watson | $54,993,000 | CLE | QB |
| 2 | Dak Prescott | $49,130,000 | DAL | QB |
| 3 | Patrick Mahomes | $46,793,381 | KC | QB |
| 4 | Josh Allen | $39,772,281 | BUF | QB |
| 5 | Ryan Tannehill | $36,600,000 | TEN | QB |
| 6 | Kirk Cousins | $36,250,000 | MIN | QB |
| 7 | Laremy Tunsil | $35,210,834 | HOU | LT |
| 8 | Matt Ryan | $35,205,882 | IND | QB |
| 9 | Tom Brady | $35,104,000 | TB | QB |
| 10 | Leonard Williams | $32,260,000 | NYG | DE |
| 11 | Aaron Rodgers | $31,623,568 | GB | QB |
| 12 | Tyreek Hill | $31,450,000 | MIA | WR |
| 13 | Joey Bosa | $31,000,000 | LAC | OLB |
| 14 | Jared Goff | $30,975,000 | DET | QB |
| 15 | DeAndre Hopkins | $30,750,000 | ARI | WR |
| 16 | Frank Clark | $30,175,000 | KC | DE |
| 17 | T.J. Watt | $29,368,694 | PIT | OLB |
| 18 | Myles Garrett | $29,176,000 | CLE | DE |
| 19 | David Bakhtiari | $28,789,035 | GB | LT |
| 20 | Jake Matthews | $28,358,823 | ATL | LT |
never before has an NFL player’s cap hit exceeded $39M
that all changes this year
Deshaun Watson's $54,993,000 cap hit in 2023 will be the largest for any player in NFL history
Watson will hit the Browns’ cap for the same $54,993,000 every single season thru 2026 pic.twitter.com/1ub6nwe4f5
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) February 20, 2023
