The Cleveland Browns' season continued to go downhill Joe Burrow finally gaining a victory on the road at the Battle of Ohio. Burrow went 2-5 against Cleveland in his impressive early career with the Cincinnati Bengals.

The big story of the Week 7 loss was the QB's Achilles tendon injury Deshaun Watson. Watson had a good game overall, having completed 15 of his 17 attempts.

Watson is expected to miss the remainder of the season and may not have to deal with a torn Achilles tendon. Watson also remains under investigation by the NFL, as his monster contract will have a major impact on the Browns' roster space.

Unless that's not the case.

In an article published on ESPN last month, Seth Walder noted that insured contracts could reduce the salary cap for teams:

The CBA refers to the insurance proceeds as a “player refund,” which qualifies the amount as a cap credit for the club for the following season. Simply put, if a player who eats up a significant portion of a club's salary cap misses significant playing time due to injury or illness, a club does not have to accept this as a total loss, but can free up space for the following year. In addition, insurance premium payments are not counted against the salary cap.

According to the article, Cleveland has just over $58 million insured this year. With the season halfway over, that could mean the Browns would save $29 million in salary cap space next season. Should Watson miss games next year due to the injury, which could depend on a number of variables, cap space could also be saved for 2026.

Watson's injury last year gave Cleveland another $4 million in cap space in 2024 based on the insurance amount in 2023.

We will continue to update you on how Watson's injury impacts the Browns' roster as more information and reports become available.

Did you know how insurance affects the salary cap? Other than QB, where should the Browns use $20 million in salary cap space next year if they get it?