How much money will Watson lose from its suspension?

This Monday, Appeals Officer Sue L. Robinson suspended Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson for the first six games of the 2023 regular season, but what is the impact of the sanction?

Watson will have to miss games against the Carolina Panthers, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Chargers and New England Patriots, he will be eligible to return until Monday, Oct. 17 for the Week 7 game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Of those games, the Steelers are divisional rivals, while the Chargers and Patriots could be crucial matchups in a potential playoff race.

If his suspension stands, Watson will be able to participate in practices during the preseason. He will also be allowed to return to the Browns for practice during the second half of the suspension, in Week 4, according to the collective bargaining agreement. But he will not be allowed to be with the team during the first half of the suspension.

Now, how much money will it cost Watson to be suspended for the first six games of the season?

When the Browns finalized the trade with the Houston Texans to acquire him last March, they agreed to a new $230 million fully guaranteed contract, the most lucrative in NFL history for any player.

According to a source, Watson’s base salary in 2022 is $1,035,000, so on that amount is the calculation for the figure he will ultimately forfeit for the duration of the sanction stemming from multiple women’s allegations against him for sexual assault and inappropriate conduct.

Then then, Watson will forfeit a total of $345,000 in game checks if his six-game suspension is upheld.

There is also a clause in Watson’s contract that protects the quarterback from losing guaranteed money if he is suspended for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, while also preventing the Browns from voiding the contract in the event of a suspension.

Veteran Jacoby Brissett, who has 37 games of starting experience with the New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins, is expected to be Cleveland’s quarterback while Watson is suspended.

In addition to Brissett, the Browns also have quarterbacks Josh Dobbs and Josh Rosen on their roster to compete for the backup job.

Dobbs is without a single career start and has thrown just 17 passes in the NFL, in which he suffered one interception, while Rosen, drafted with the 10th overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2018 draft, has a 3-13 mark as a starter with 277 pass completions for 2,864 yards with 12 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.