The Cleveland Browns, and by extension their fans, are so close that they can reach out and almost touch it.
Four-and-a-half years after the Browns made their confessed “big swing and miss” on quarterback Deshaun Watson, the end is almost here as Watson enters the final year of his five-year, fully guaranteed contract.
All the Browns have to do is let the 2026 season play out, and once the final whistle blows on January 10, pack up Watson’s locker and have the contents delivered to him while the team
prepares for another offseason of quarterback hunting.
It is all right there for the taking, something so simple that there is no way anyone could mess this up.
Except, what if Watson plays well enough this fall that the Browns convince themselves he is worthy of another contract?
General manager Andrew Berry did not exactly close the door on that scenario while meeting with the media at training camp this week. With the idea that Watson has no future with the Browns past this season, Berry was asked why not just play another quarterback?
“I wouldn’t rule anything out in terms of the whole quarterback-of-the-future discussion. Ultimately, we’re going to play the player who’s the most productive on the field. I think Deshaun is only 30. There’s no need to make any decisions about the future right now. We’ll let it play out and figure it out as we go.”
Owner Jimmy Haslam had the opportunity to put this all to rest on Friday during his media session, but would not completely rule out the seemingly improbable idea of Watson being around past this season:
“I think there are all kinds of possibilities out there — so, yes. But here again, we’ve got to get through practice. Somebody might have a great year, and they’re our quarterback forever, or neither of them might. I think it’s way, way, way early to be talking about who’s going to be our quarterback next year — we’ve got to figure out who’s going to start the first game.”
Those are both decent enough answers from Berry and Haslam, as it makes sense not to alienate a player you may need this fall or tip your hand on your plans.
But given everything he has gone through since arriving in town – the 11-game suspension from the NFL, shoulder surgery, two tears of his Achilles tendon, and one of the largest drop-offs in production in NFL history- there is no way that Watson would want to stay with the Browns one moment longer than is necessary.
Right?
Well … that’s not how Watson is currently approaching the situation, as he explained during his media session on Saturday:
“When I first got here, there was a lot of stuff going on as the world knows. I don’t have any bad feelings toward Cleveland; I love Cleveland. Me and my wife have a house on the East Side; we were around all summer. I haven’t had a bad experience outside of some different times in the stadium. I don’t know why that narrative is out there that people think I don’t like Cleveland. If the opportunity shows up, we’ll see where it goes.”
Admittedly, this is all premature as there is a lot of football to be played before the Browns have to decide on Watson’s future. But this is still the same franchise that has bungled every quarterback it has made since 1999, including:
- not building an offensive line for Tim Couch
- using first-round draft picks on Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden and Johnny Manziel,
- mismanaging the final years of Baker Mayfield’s time with the team,
- feeling it needs to “bend the knee” to the family of a fifth-round draft pick with a questionable future.
So until they prove otherwise, it may be best to hold off on sending any goodbye cards to a certain veteran quarterback.
