The Browns already have a four-way quarterback competition playing out this offseason, but that already complicated equation could get a whole lot more contentious if and when Deshaun Watson is finally cleared to play again. For the Browns, this is both a blessing and a curse.
What a long, strange ride it's been for Deshaun Watson. Coming out of Clemson as a highly sought-after prospect, Watson began his NFL career with the Houston Texans, going on to cement himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Four successful seasons passed by, and the future was looking bright for Watson. It was at that moment that things started to unravel.
After the 2020 season, Watson requested a trade after becoming disgruntled with changes in the Texans’ front office and coaching staff. Things went from bad to worse for Watson when the team refused to negotiate, and things between the two at-odds parties devolved into a tense standoff.
It was during that tumultuous offseason that Watson found himself faced with problems extending beyond the playing field; a lawsuit was filed accusing Watson of sexual assault. What started with a single accuser soon expanded exponentially as dozens more women came forward with similar claims. As a result of the legal trouble, Watson missed the entire 2021 season.
After the season concluded, the Browns made their move, concocting a complex trade which would include signing Watson to a five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract; an unprecedented sum which to this day, is hard for many to wrap their heads around.
After sitting out the rest of his suspension, Watson finally took the field as a Cleveland Brown while the Dawg Pound held its breath to see if their team’s enormous investment was well spent. It wasn't.
In his first game in 700 days, Watson posted the worst passer rating of his NFL career at 53.4, a worrisome sign of things to come. Watson ended up going 3-3 that season while showing only intermittent flashes of his former self.
The next season, 2023, instead of earning the Browns' many millions, Deshaun did anything but. A shoulder injury sidelined him for the season, capping his record for that year at an underwhelming 5-1. He spent the rest of that year recovering and collecting his guaranteed checks.
If 2023 was bad, then 2024 was worse. After a statistically terrible start, Watson suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in week 7, an injury he would later re-rupture this past January.
Watson's Eventual Return Looms Over the Entire Browns Organization
While Flacco, Pickett, Gabriel, and Sanders duke it out for the starting job, Watson remains an ever-present specter in the facility, biding his time before his long-awaited comeback. Already this past May, Watson was throwing indoors and has been speaking optimistically about taking back the starting job. He’s made it clear that he fully intends to come back better than before, which, to be fair, would be a low bar to clear.
If Watson continues to recover at this pace, he could be ready to return as soon as December which confronts the Browns with a monumental decision; to drastically alter course and squeeze some juice out of this $230 million lemon, or to carry on with one of the four other quarterbacks they currently have on the payroll.
Speaking of money, the Browns might ultimately choose to keep Watson off the field for financial reasons. Outright releasing him is unfortunately out of the question. If the Browns did so, the result would be a devastating $172.3 million dead cap hit this year and $135.4 million in 2026; a death blow for the team’s already thin roster.
Watson is due a $46 million salary in 2025. If he does not play at all, though, an insurance policy would reimburse the Browns for a significant portion of that, potentially $44.3 million if he misses the entire season; a silver lining of an otherwise dark cloud hanging over the organization.
The right choice is far from clear for Browns fans who are starkly divided in their support for one quarterback over another, but the overall mood across the fandom is a desire to move on from the disastrous Deshaun Watson experiment and to throw their lot behind a younger option with less baggage and more potential. Whether the Browns brass can stomach swallowing an almost quarter of a billion dollar misstep, though, is another question.