If we can be honest, the NFL salary cap (along with the NBA salary cap) are highly complex things that both make sports fun and too complicated at times. While front offices will call it “just an accounting mechanism,” fans and media will wax and wane about salary cap space until the cows come home.
Generally, folks are split down the middle that the salary cap “isn’t real” or is “very limiting.”
For the 2023 NFL free agency period and the Cleveland Browns, those conversations have converged all offseason so far. Deshaun Watson has a huge cap number but could also be restructured quickly to create a ton of cap space.