The Browns have started three different quarterbacks this season. A fourth could be on the way. Cleveland opened Deshaun Watson‘s practice window on Wednesday. The team will have 21 days to activate Watson from the reserve/PUP list.
Watson hasn’t appeared in a game since Oct. 20, 2024, when he tore his right Achilles in a loss to the Bengals. The 30-year-old tore the same Achilles while rehabbing last January. He had to undergo surgery shortly after that.
Coming off two major injuries, it’s unclear if Watson will be healthy enough to take the field this season. He’ll only take individual practice reps for now before “potentially” moving up to the scout team at some point, according to head coach Kevin Stefanski (via Tony Grossi of 850 ESPN Cleveland).
Asked if he wants Watson to play in 2025, Stefanski said (via Zac Jackson of The Athletic): “Really not my focus. Not his focus right this minute. His focus is putting a helmet on, shoulder pads, throwing a football.”
Watson’s Achilles injury was the latest unwelcome development in what has been a disastrous run in Cleveland. Then with the Texans, Watson sat out the entire 2021 season while angling for a new contract. He was also facing ongoing sexual misconduct allegations.
Despite his troubling off-field issues, the Browns sent four picks (three first-rounders and a third-rounder) to the Texans for Watson in March 2022. The trade has turned out to be one of the most lopsided swaps in NFL history, especially considering Cleveland immediately gave Watson a five-year deal worth a fully guaranteed $230MM.
The allegations against Watson led to an 11-game suspension to begin his first season with the Browns. The three-time Pro Bowler has not regained his past form since then. Watson has started just 19 games for the Browns, who have gone 9-10 with him at the helm. He has posted a lackluster 80.2 passer rating with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions since leaving Houston.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam admitted last spring that the Watson trade was a “big swing-and-miss” move for Cleveland, which didn’t land the franchise QB it thought it was getting. The Browns are still searching for an answer under center.
Joe Flacco opened this season as the Browns’ starter, but they traded the 40-year-old stopgap to the Bengals in early October. Flacco’s departure led to the promotion of third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel, who struggled in six outings before suffering a concussion in a Week 11 loss to the Ravens. While Gabriel is now healthy, his injury allowed fifth-round rookie Shedeur Sanders to grab the reins. The 3-9 Browns have gone 1-1 under Sanders, who will start again in a meeting with the Titans on Sunday.
Cleveland will have four more games left after it faces Tennessee. It’s up in the air whether Watson will play in any of them. It’s also unknown if Watson will be in the mix to compete for the Browns’ starting job next season. He’s owed $46MM in 2026, the last year of his contract, and will count a league-high $80.7MM against the salary cap. Releasing Watson in the offseason would leave the Browns with an absurd $131.6MM dead cap charge.
Deshaun
Worst (dumbest) contract in nfl history?
Yes. A guy with a serious injury history and a couple dozen sexual misconduct allegations against him, who hadn’t played a snap the previous season, got such an unprecedented amount of guaranteed money that it took more than two years for anyone to match it. Definitely the worst contract in NFL history, and when combined with the trade, the worst transaction in NFL history.
Worst franchise in pro football if not all of the big 3 American pro sports since I was a kid in the eighties. My dad used to say the browns were once one of the preeminent franchises in the league. I’d laugh
In the 60’s 70’s and 80’s they were actually a good franchise. When they came back in 1998 they’ve been along with the Jets the premier dumpster fire in the league
Especially since –
Texans had no leverage
Browns were effectively bidding againt themselves
All the risk he had
Even if he had no risk..no team around him
In fairness, there were multiple teams gunning to trade for him, like Carolina, but Cleveland went way over the top.
This reminds me of the scene from Batman:the Dark Knight where the Joker says “And…here…we…go!” before trying to blow up a building.
I can’t think of any logical reason Watson should start for this team at this point in the season.
Because the promise they made to Myles Garrett to make him sign. He gets first shot at blowing up Watson.
The Oil Bandit returns!
No Diddy
Yes Diddy lmao
Call of ditty
Assuming they’re just testing grip strength & wrist flexibility for clipboard holding.
Yeh he. Grip strength
“Thats garbage Watson! You think that is how we hold a clipboard! Do it again!”
Lolololololol
In other news about windows, massage therapists were reportedly jumping out of windows in their eagerness to escape Deshaun Watson.
They are stuck with him. At this point with a bad draft class for QB. You might as well see if Watson can give you 65% of his old self. The problem is the defense is here now, the offensive weapons are here, the window is kind of now. This teams needs a QB next year.
No because Sanders is better then the 2026 class of overhyped QB’S…we need OL and WR
Agreed that the Browns need OL and WR improvements, but Sanders is not a better prospect at this point than Mendoza.
No one talks about Jeudy. Where did he go this season?
Saw him this week stop running on routes. Hes prepping for golf
He most certainly is. Mendoza reminds me of Zach Wilson when he played at BYU…a 1st round pick by the Jets who flamed out pretty quickly…. Don’t bet against Sanders …
That’s a weird comp. Mendoza is bigger, has much better pocket presence, has much more of a track record of strong performance in college, and has it against much stronger competition than Wilson did. He’s compared much more to Goff and Cousins.
I’m higher on Sanders than most people on this site, but the idea that a guy who fell to the fifth round last year and has had one good game through two starts is a better prospect than a guy about to go top five is just silly. You may feel that way with a good deal of homerism, but you won’t find many others who think so.
I was higher on Sanders coming out of CU than I am now. It’s early of course, but does he have arm strength? It’s not like he’s got a cannon on some of these deeper routes.
That’s ok, maybe he’s a touch passer but given what I’ve seen so far, meh
I liked Schough coming out of Louisville and stand by that. Granted, he’s older than any QB in last year’s class but he seems to possess all you just listed. But it’s early.
My only concern with Mendoza is in who IU has played. Offhand, I’d love him to fall to the Steelers if they had a development guy here. He’s a little like fool’s gold to me at this point but he has OSU and the playoffs ahead. Will be interesting
Sanders is not the answer at QB for the browns lol. they’ll have to spend a first round pick for one in 2026
The Watson ship hasn’t just already sailed. It’s already hit an iceberg and sunk.
Yes please bring back this likable man of great character and honesty.
Look at Watson in 2024 and 2023 with his busted shoulder outside of the Ravens game, he was not much better than Dillon Gabriel. He already was 65% of his former self. But he is paid no matter what, and we need to use the first round picks on the OL and WR. I don’t think Watson on the active roster this season or next changes the needs of the team.
Well he won’t be able to beat out Shedeur Sanders…but maybe this will give them a better backup QB then Dillon Gabriel…
Wait, you think one is actually better than the other?
They should sign Tucker to team up with Watson.
Team Up or Tag Team?
Tuck and Tug!
The Browns front office plan was to trot out as little talent as possible at QB so that fans would actually look forward to Deshaun returning.
Now the plan shifts to trotting him out with a skeleton crew of offensive lineman so he can get reinjured, that way they can collect more insurance money.
Well, they did bring in Kenny Pickett
Next Watson update: “Window closes…coffin opens”.
has someone told the browns tanking for manning is not a good idea anymore ?
Does anybody know what the final trade ended up being? Meaning, who the draft picks were? e.g.
CLE got Watson (and spent 230M)
HOU got Player X, Player Y, Player Z…
I might’ve found it. Was it just Will Anderson and Tank Dell?
I think…..Dell is an injury prone WR and Anderson is decent OT
Anderson is a star edge rusher.
It’s complicated, because Houston moved up and down with those picks a ton. They got Kenyon Green, Will Anderson (with a sizable trade up), John Metchie, Dameon Pierce, Christian Harris, Tank Dell, and Kamari Lassiter (with a sizable trade down).
Green was terrible, Anderson is great, Metchie was an unfortunate disappointment (hard to count that given how much he lost to cancer), Pierce was phenomenal for a short period before the offense changed (I’ll count him as a success), Harris is a depth piece at the moment, Dell has paid off, despite injuries, and Lassiter looks great so far.
Overall, it’s a decent haul. The Texans did lose a great starter, but given Watson’s injuries and fall from grace, it’s hard to say that this trade cost them that version of him. If it were the current version, it’s a massive win for Houston, especially at this price. The only real question is whether Watson’s future was affected by this trade…and not the litany of other issues.
I think this trade was a win for Houston, regardless of what they received.
Can this guy go away already?
Pathetic d-bag.
I’m interested to see what would happen if Watson gets in games and somehow sparks that offense down the stretch. Fans generally have short memories when wins come to a team in desperate straits
Anybody got any superglue?
Quick. Someone shut the friggin window before he gets in