Browns Deshaun Watson’s future: The answer is either simple or complicated

A lot of chatter is being spent on kicking Deshaun Watson to the curb in Cleveland

The Cleveland Browns traded with the Houston Texans for Deshaun Watson in 2020 to solve their quarterback problems. Throughout the years, the franchise had spent a lot of time, effort, scouting, and money on getting a dependable signal caller to lead the team and failed numerous times.

Led by GM Andrew Berry, the club pulled the trigger on the deal that sent Watson to the Browns along with a sixth-round draft pick. Houston was sent three first-round draft selections, a third and two fourth-round picks.

At the time, Watson had just been named to his third straight Pro Bowl, was the NFL passing yards leader tossing for 4,823 yards in 2020, had thrown for 14,539 yards with 104 touchdown passes against 36 interceptions, had a 67.8% completion percentage with a 104.5 QB rating. He also had rushed for 1,677 yards with an additional 17 touchdowns in just four seasons in Houston.

It was a constant when Watson would crank out a 300-yard game with an occasional contest that topped 400 passing yards.

Those numbers spelled an incredible athletic accomplishment. The Browns’ brass wanted him to replicate those feats in Cleveland. And so, the trade was made.

The deal was for five years for the 26-year-old Watson with a $230 million contract which featured all of the money guaranteed. Lots of players were getting guaranteed funds, but this was the largest to be fully assured for a single player. The contract sent shockwaves across the NFL – especially the other club owners. A deal like this could set a dangerous precedent that no owner wanted to address.

The Browns and their fans had to deal with Watson’s legal situation and everyone waited patiently for that to come to a reasonable conclusion, and the subsequent 11-game suspension.

Once Watson hit the field in 2022, his first game back he faced his old team the Texans. Despite a 27-14 victory, Watson’s numbers were just sub-par: 12 completions on 22 attempts for 131 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception, a QB rating of 53.4 with seven carries for 21 yards on zero rushing touchdowns. Cleveland fans wondered out loud why they had waited all that time for that.

The six games he played that season were nothing spectacular: 36 rushes for 176 yards and one score, 99 completions on 170 attempts for 1,102 yards, a 58.2% completion percentage, seven TDs with five picks, and a 79.1 QB rating. That is vanilla with vanilla sprinkles.

The coaching staff preached that Watson had not played in two seasons and all that was needed was a full off-season along with the notion that he would be the starting QB in training camp and get all those first-team reps. So, Browns fans waited some more.

Watson’s 2023 season was more of the same average numbers. In Week 10, he had his first really good game against the powerful Baltimore Ravens with a spectacular 33-31 comeback win. But Watson suffered a displaced fracture to the glenoid in his right shoulder during the first half. He was able to finish the game and guide the Browns in the comeback, but three days later, management announced his season was done and would undergo surgery to repair the broken bone in his shoulder as he found IR his new home.

This year was a repeat of the same. He played some and then became injured as he had an Achilles tear in the Week 7 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Again, Watson was placed on IR.

In his three seasons in Cleveland, Watson has played 19 games and missed 32.

Because his play in 2024 was sporadic with numbers that no longer claimed “elite” status – or even good for that matter – when Watson went down in the Bengals game, a lot of fans, media outlets, and Browns podcasts declared that they were tired of his irregular play and are wanting to replace him.

Here are two reasons why that won’t happen:

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Reason #1: Deshaun Watson’s contract

This season, Watson played in six and a half games and made $92 million. No other NFL player made that much this year.

A torn Achilles tendon typically takes four to six months to heal with proper treatment. For most folks who live a normal life that does not include 300-pound men falling on them, most patients are able to return to their normal life during this timeframe. For an athlete such as Watson, it depends on how severe the tear was to begin with, and how his surgery went.

Going back to a high-impact undertaking such as playing tackle football could take longer for the injury to fully heal and be functional again. Another aspect is how Watson’s body reacts with the healing process.

Six months would place him in the range of April. Add several more months and it would hit about the beginning of training camp.

In 2025, Watson will be healthy enough to be the Browns starting quarterback.

Once he is fully healthy, during this off-season, the team isn’t going to release him. And the Browns aren’t going to trade him. They aren’t going to waive him with an injury designation.

The reason is Watson’s contract.

Starting out, the salary cap details of releasing Watson are just non-starters at this point.

He is set to make $46 million in 2025. That is whether he plays or not, if he sits at home, if the coaching staff is sick of his play, if he is walking on a beach, or if he is playing for another team. The Browns owe him $46 million next year. Period.

Let’s just say for a moment that the coaching staff feels that Watson has lost his mojo and has decided to not play him any longer. GM Andrew Berry beats the bushes and decides to bring in an NFL-caliber starting quarterback instead of experienced backups like he has signed in the last three years such as Jacoby Brissett, Joe Flacco, and Jameis Winston.

Now, we aren’t suggesting NFL throwaways like Daniel Jones, Justin Fields, or Mac Jones. Maybe in the conversion of Kurt Cousins, or Dak Prescott, or perhaps Jared Goff. Any of these would cost what? $30 million a season? $50 million?

Now understand, that all of this is hypothetical but even if Cleveland can trade for Patrick Mahomes (not happening) and he can get the best QB in the league to sign for $50 million a year.

After the Mahomes signing, now for 2025, the Browns will pay Watson $46 million and Mahomes $50 million. Yes, $96 million for the same position. It is not like Watson will suddenly become a running back or play cornerback. Two players at the same position and the franchise has devoted that huge chunk of change.

Suddenly, other players who are paid what they are worth will have to be released or traded because of cap restraints. Gone are OT Jack Conklin and OG Joel Bitonio. DB Denzel Ward’s contract? Departed. Kicker Dustin Hopkins? Find a young undrafted guy. DT Dalvin Tomlinson and LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah will have to be traded for cheaper guys. WR Jerry Juedy and TE David Njoku shipped off for smaller contracts.

All across the roster, the Browns will need to bring in draft picks with draft pick contracts, and a ton of veteran free agents who will play for cheap on one-year deals. But hey, we have Mahomes!

Watson will make his money regardless of how he plays and what the media and fans say about his production – or lack of.

The same scenario repeats itself in 2026. Watson will make $46 million. The Browns have painted themselves into a $230 million corner.

As long as Watson is healthy, he will be Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the next two years.

(Editor’s note: Or at least on the roster.)

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Reason #2: Ego

There have been many media folks that have uttered that so far, the Deshaun Watson trade is the worst trade in NFL history. They point to the Herschel Walker deal with the Minnesota Vikings from the Dallas Cowboys back in 1989.

Walker was an absolute beast then. He was the first junior to be signed to play pro football and set that rule up for future generations. The Cowboys had been slick by taking Walker in Round 5 of the 1985 NFL draft. At the time, Walker was a member of the New Jersey Generals of the USFL, so every NFL club just omitted him from their draft boards. When the USFL folded, the Cowboys owned his rights for pennies on the dollar.

When Dallas traded him to the Vikings, they were one of the worst teams in the league. Walker was in his prime and was the Cowboys’ best player. The trade involved 18 players and draft picks, and three NFL clubs: Dallas, Minnesota, and the San Diego Chargers.

The Vikings had a good team as they had just lost in the 1988 NFC Championship and felt they were one superstar from being a Super Bowl contender.

The Cowboys received three number-one draft picks, three number-two selections, plus a third and a sixth. What head coach Jimmy Johnson did in the next several drafts was he was able to move up and down the draft board in order to cherry-pick players he targeted. He grabbed RB Emmitt Smith, DTs Russell Maryland and Leon Lett, LBs Dixon Edwards and Godfrey Myles, OT Erik Williams, CB Kevin Smith, WR Jimmy Smith, and S Darren Woodson.

For three years, the Cowboys flew up and down the draft board snatching players through trades. The Walker trade enabled Coach Johnson to turn all those picks into so many before the air cleared and built Dallas into a league juggernaut that would capture two Super Bowls under him and then a third under his replacement using his players.

Meanwhile, Walker had 669, 770, and 825-yard seasons and scored just 25 touchdowns in the same three years. He then played three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, one with the New York Football Giants, and then two in his final seasons back in Dallas. Walker never replicated the superiority he held in the USFL (mainly because that league didn’t have NFL defenders).

Because Minnesota gave up on Walker and the Cowboys had a quick turnaround, that has been called the worst trade in NFL history. Only now, the naysayers are comparing the Watson trade as a possible rival to the Walker debacle.

This season, Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski played Watson until he became injured against the Bengals. At the time, Watson was ranked the #29 quarterback in the league. But despite his failings and lack of production, Stefanski stuck with him.

Everyone could see that Watson no longer had those elite skills. In fact, he just wasn’t very good in any statistical category.

The fans could see it. The media wrote about it. Browns podcasts all questioned why Coach Kevin Stefanski was keeping him in.

For the Cleveland brass, they knew it as well. But here’s the rub: they can’t admit it. They just can’t.

To admit that Watson hasn’t been spectacular – ever – since putting on a browns and orange jersey, will be to admit that the trade wasn’t in their best interest. That it failed. That the franchise spent all this money on a player who has only produced minimally and played only in 37.3% of contests. And that they as an organization have spent all that money for so little. More money is being spent and will be spent on the exact same situation.

Cleveland can’t trade him. No team would take on his middling skills while at the same time paying his massive salary.

The issue with Watson isn’t going anywhere, or anywhere soon. The Browns have the remainder of this season, plus two more years to deal with his mediocre play at a king’s ransom price tag.

To admit Watson has rarely played well, or to bench him, or to release him outright, is to admit the trade failed and flopped miserably.

Between owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, GM Berry, and the head coach, which one wants to fess up to that?

We’ve heard that Watson is back in Berea working out at the facility, already preparing for next year. Sound like a player who won’t be in Cleveland next year? Connecting all the dots leads us to a very simple answer: Deshaun Watson will be the Browns quarterback next year or things will get really complicated.