Deshaun Watson has struggled through injuries and ineffectiveness for the entirety of his stint with the Cleveland Browns, and his injury issues continued on Sunday.
Watson suffered a significant leg injury against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7. Here’s the latest on Watson and where the Browns will go from here.
What Happened to Browns QB Deshaun Watson in Week 7?
Watson went down after suffering a non-contact leg injury with 1:26 remaining in the second quarter of Sunday’s game, and it is believed that he tore his Achilles.
He was in clear pain as Cleveland’s other players surrounded him on the field. Watson was eventually carted off the field. He had a towel around his head and was in tears as he exited for the locker room.
The Browns officially ruled Watson out with an Achilles injury at the start of the third quarter. After the game, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said the team believed Watson suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Tests on Monday confirmed that diagnosis; Watson will miss the remainder of the year.
An MRI revealed that Browns QB Deshaun Watson’s Achilles is in fact ruptured, as suspected, and his 2024 season is over.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 21, 2024
While Jameis Winston served as Watson’s backup through the first six weeks of the season, the Browns promoted Dorian Thompson-Robinson to QB2 ahead of Week 7. He entered the game on Sunday after Watson went down.
Cleveland selected Thompson-Robinson in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He started three games during his rookie campaign, going 1-2 while completing 53.6% of his passes for 440 yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions.
Winston, whom the Browns inked to a fully guaranteed $4 million deal in March, was inactive in Week 7.
However, Thompson-Robinson exited the game with a finger injury late in the fourth quarter. When Thompson-Robinson left the game, he was 11 for 24, throwing for 82 yards, averaging 3.4 yards per reception with two interceptions. He added 44 yards on the ground on three carries.
With DTR injured, Winston entered the game and threw a touchdown pass to tight end David Njoku.
It took Deshaun Watson getting injured and Dorian Thompson-Robinson going down as the backup QB for the Browns to finally go to Jameis Winston, as the emergency QB, while any NFL fan who has ever watched football knew Jameis was the best QB in that room. pic.twitter.com/x3ywwBZY20
— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) October 20, 2024
Cleveland had continued to stick with Watson as its starting QB despite his atrocious play officially reaching historic levels. No quarterback since 2000 had averaged fewer yards per attempt (5.1) or posted less EPA per dropback (-0.26) over the first six weeks of a season than Watson in 2024.
What is Watson’s NFL Future?
Assuming that Watson ruptured his Achilles, he could be looking at a similar timeline to fellow quarterback Kirk Cousins, who tore his Achilles as a member of the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 29, 2023. Cousins signed with the Atlanta Falcons during the following offseason and was ready for Week 1 of the 2024 campaign.
If Watson is healthy enough to play in 2025, he’s essentially un-cuttable. Cleveland signed Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year, $230 million contract upon acquiring him in 2022 and has continued to restructure his deal by moving money into future seasons.
Even if the Browns designated Watson as a post-June 1 release next offseason, they’d still have to absorb nearly $120 million in 2025 dead money. No NFL team has ever taken on more than $50 million in single-season dead money for an individual player.
However, just because Watson is on the roster doesn’t mean he would have to start. Cleveland is 1-5 to begin the season and will face the NFL’s fifth-most difficult schedule over the rest of the year. General manager Andrew Berry could be in a position to land a quarterback early in the 2025 NFL Draft, allowing the Browns to turn Watson into an overpaid backup.
As Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap noted, the Browns insured up to $13.9 million of Watson’s 2024 compensation. Nearly all his 2025 earnings are insured, so Cleveland could realize salary cap savings if Watson can’t play next season.
Fantasy Implications of Watson’s Injury
With Winston inactive, Thompson-Robinson assumed Cleveland’s backup role, and his athletic profile makes for an interesting fantasy football option.
That said, there’s no real reason to dig this deep, even if Watson is on the shelf for an extended period. There are no teams on a bye next week when Thompson-Robinson draws a favorable QB matchup (vs. Ravens), and he’s in a tough spot against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 9 before Cleveland goes on bye in Week 10.
After the Amari Cooper trade, there wasn’t a receiver on the Browns’ roster worthy of our attention. David Njoku’s value as a fringe starter doesn’t change, and the running game remains a full-blown committee that essentially adds a member via their quarterback.
You could make the DFS case as a deep punt play, but that’s about it.
If Winston were to take over the starter duties, very little would change. It might help Njoku a bit. Jerry Jeudy is filling the WR1 role (in theory), and he’d be the one to target if you wanted to gamble on Winston. But that’s precisely what it is — a gamble.
— PFN Fantasy Analyst Kyle Soppe