Will Deshaun Watson Be a Brown in 2025? Insider Reveals Latest
After quarterback Deshaun Watson went down with a ruptured Achilles on Oct. 20, individuals such as Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports touched upon whether or not Watson had taken his last meaningful snap as a member of the Cleveland Browns.
According to NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Cleveland fans should expect to see Watson rehabbing while with the Browns during springtime and summer workouts next year.
“The plan, going forward, isn’t the same as it has been,” Breer wrote about the Browns for a piece updated early Monday morning. “Until now, the Browns have built a quarterback room to support Watson. This year, they’ll look, through the draft and/or the veteran market, to add competition to the room. So while the likelihood — because of the injury and the contract — is Watson will be back, the Browns are going to look to do more than just stop-gap the backup spot.”
Multiple reporters and analysts previously noted how the Browns replaced fan-favorite backup quarterback Joe Flacco with Jameis Winston and hired Ken Dorsey as offensive coordinator this past offseason in an attempt to get Watson back to the player he was during his best days with the Houston Texans.
Instead, the 29-year-old, who signed a fully guaranteed five-year, $230M contract as part of joining the Browns in March 2022, was one of the league’s worst starting quarterbacks of this season before his latest setback.
Per ESPN stats, Watson began Monday ranked last in the NFL with a woeful 22.2 adjusted QBR for the campaign. He’s made just 19 regular-season starts since September 2022 and missed over half of last season because of a serious shoulder injury.
The Browns currently have no way to financially escape what’s left on Watson’s deal. Even though acquiring the signal-caller seems to be an all-time NFL blunder as of this fall, Breer was among the reporters who said last week that team owner Jimmy Haslam plans to retain both head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry.
“Part of the Browns’ thinking on Berry and Stefanski is an acknowledgment that everyone has to shoulder their part of the blame for the trade and everything that’s happened since acquiring the quarterback from the Houston Texans,” Breer wrote about the Watson situation for his latest piece.
Of course, things could change regarding the futures of Berry and Stefanski if the 3-8 Browns look checked out through the remainder of this season, beginning with next Monday’s game at the 7-5 Denver Broncos. As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Cleveland as a 5.5-point underdog for that matchup.
