Deshaun Watson’s tenure with the Cleveland Browns has not exactly gone according to plan.
When the Browns traded for Watson and then proceeded to hand him a massive $230 million guaranteed contract back in March 2022, they were hoping that the former Houston Texans quarterback would transform their franchise and vault them into contender status in the AFC.
Well, the entire experiment has been an unmitigated disaster.
Watson has played just 12 games for Cleveland in two years and is out for the remainder of 2023 due to a shoulder injury. When he has been on the field, he has not been great, totaling 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions while completing just 59.8 percent of his passes.
The 28-year-old has barely even resembled the signal-caller who made three straight trips to the Pro Bowl between 2018 and 2020, and an unnamed NFL personnel member does not seem him returning to form any time soon.
“Yeah, I think he’s done,” the personnel member told Mike Sando of The Athletic. “He has always been a guy who holds the ball. He has always pressured himself. They need to call the game with him like they need to call it without him: heavy screen game, heavy run game, 12 personnel, quarterback keepers.”
Watson, who played his collegiate football at Clemson, was originally selected by the Texans with the 12th overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft.
He spent the first five years of his career in Houston, with his best campaign coming in 2020 when he led the league with 4,823 passing yards to go along with 33 touchdowns and just seven picks. In addition, he completed 70.2 percent of his throws while posting a passer rating of 112.4.
However, beginning that ensuing offseason, Deshaun Watson was accused of sexual misconduct by 26 different women who worked as massage therapists. He was ultimately cleared of the accusations, but he sat all of 2021 and was still hit with an 11-game suspension by the NFL in 2022.
Cleveland is 8-5 and is currently rolling with Joe Flacco as its starting quarterback. The Browns will take on the Chicago Bears this Sunday.
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