The Deshaun Watson Era — which has been an unmitigated disaster — might be coming to a close.
Prior to the 2022 season, the Cleveland Browns shipped three first-round picks to the Houston Texans for Watson and then gave him a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract. Watson didn’t play in 2021, after he faced over two dozen allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault.
Watson was never criminally charged but settled over 20 lawsuits.
Despite the accusations, the Browns still believed that Watson would be their franchise quarterback and lead the team back to glory. That hasn’t come close to happening.
Over three seasons, Watson has only started 19 games due to an 11-game suspension and two season-ending injuries, going 9-10. He was just 1-5 this year before tearing his Achilles in Week 7. According to ESPN.com’s Daniel Oyefusi, Watson’s 33.8 Total QBR ranks 32nd of 33 qualifying passers. He’s only ahead of Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young.
Watson has thrown 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and has taken 70 sacks during that time.
Because of Watson’s abysmal tenure, many Browns fans are ready to move on. They might be getting their wish as comments from Browns general manager Andrew Berry will certainly raise some eyebrows.
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Cleveland Browns won’t commit to quarterback Deshaun Watson
During a press conference on Wednesday, Berry wouldn’t commit to Watson and declined to address the quarterback’s future with the franchise.
“Really, our focus with Deshaun, I would say for any player with a season-ending injury and a major injury, is first and foremost with recovery, and to make sure that he gets healthy from the Achilles injury. Everything else, we’ll deal with at a later moment,” Berry told reporters.
The Browns offense has struggled mightily, ranking 31st in yards per game (274.4), 28th in passing yards per game (183.4), and 28th in points per game (16.4). Under Watson this season, the Browns failed to score more than 20 points in any game.
Despite the obvious issues, Berry wouldn’t place all the blame on Watson.
“We haven’t played well as a team and we haven’t played well as a unit on offense,” Berry said, via ESPN’s Oyefusi. “I think oftentimes when you don’t play well on offense, obviously your starting quarterback and your play-caller will get the most criticism. But the reality of it is, offenses, it comes down to organization and synchronization. There’s just a lot of shared ownership across the different position groups in terms of why we didn’t perform.”
Berry also wouldn’t say whether it was a good idea to trade for Watson.
“I’m really not in reflection mode,” he added.
Even if the Browns release Watson after this year, they will still be on the hook for $92 million total for the next two seasons.
“Watson has cap hits of $72.9 million in the 2025 and 2026 seasons, both slated to be the second highest in the NFL. Cleveland would take on dead cap hits of $172 million and $99 million in 2025 and 2026 if the team were to part ways with Watson after the season,” ESPN’s Oyefusi reports.
The Browns are 2-7 on the season and will next face the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 17.
