Late last month, Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson made it clear that he wants his team’s front office to pursue more talent at wide receiver this offseason, and he specifically named Cincinnati Bengals wide out Tee Higgins as a potential target in free agency.
Well, Watson mentioned Higgins’ name yet again this week, and he doubled down on his hope that the Browns will make a push to sign him, even if he knows he doesn’t make the decisions.
“Of course I want Tee. (Expletive), I want all the top receivers if I can,” Watson said on his QB Unplugged podcast. “But at the end of the day, I’m just throwing a little nugget out there. Who knows what’s going to happen? I don’t control that or free agency, who we bring in.”
Watson was sure to qualify his statement by saying that he trusts general manager Andrew Berry to make the right moves.
“All this is all planned,” Watson said. “If you really listen to Andrew Berry, he’s telling you the gameplan, the blueprint. We’re straight, we know exactly what we’re doing for the next five years.”
To be perfectly honest, the Browns may not even know where they will stand with Watson in the near future; let alone what the franchise will be doing for the next five years.
Cleveland initially acquired Watson in a blockbuster trade with the Houston Texans back in March 2022 and then proceeded to hand him a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract.
Since then, Watson has played in a grand total of 12 games with the Browns. He was suspended for 11 games in his debut campaign due to sexual misconduct allegations, and this past season, he missed 11 contest due to a shoulder injury that ultimately required surgery.
Watson has not exactly looked great when he has been on the field, either.
As for Deshaun Watson’s hopes of landing Higgins? The Browns are currently $20.6 million over the salary cap heading into the offseason, so their chances of signing Tee Higgins—or any big-name receiver, for that matter—may be relatively slim.
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