Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 7 against the Cincinnati Bengals. So far, the 29-year-old quarterback’s time in Cleveland has been a big disappointment, and injuries have not helped him either.
The team has looked much better with other quarterbacks. Joe Flacco took them to the playoffs in 2023, and Jameis Winston brought out the best in the players on both sides of the ball in 2024 with his veteran ability and leadership.
Cleveland played the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football in Week 13, and Troy Aikman had some words about Watson.
Troy Aikman Casts Doubts on Deshaun Watson
The Browns had a dynamic, competitive fourth quarter against the Broncos in Week 13, and their offense looked dynamic with Winston at quarterback.
Aikman was impressed by Winston’s ability to establish belief in the team and wondered whether Watson was the reason the team struggled offensively and defensively at the start of the season.
“Kevin Stefanski is an outstanding football coach, and he’s proven that, two-time Coach of the Year,” Aikman said. “What he did to that group last year to get them in the postseason, they started four quarterbacks, and they were decimated with injuries. And I get it, you know, this year hasn’t been what people thought coming in, but the albatross is Deshaun Watson.
“If you go to Jameis Winston earlier in the year, does this look different? Because I would say the defensive struggles, in at least a small part, have had to do with how inept the offense has been moving the football. I think it’s affected the defensive play as well.”
Troy Aikman says what a lot of Browns fans have been saying for weeks now about their disappointing season.
"This year hasn't been what people thought coming in. But the albatross is Deshaun Watson. If you go to Jameis Winston earlier in the year, does this look different?" pic.twitter.com/KnwmoSJ02B
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 3, 2024
Cleveland had one of the best defenses in the league last year, a season in which Watson was limited to just six games. In the seven games that the Clemson product played this year, the Browns’ defense gave up an average of 23.1 points per game. Since then, the team has played four games and has allowed just 16.7 points per game, not including Monday night against Denver.
The offense has also been significantly better, with Jerry Jeudy emerging as a star for them. The wide receiver had 200+ yards receiving against the Broncos; meanwhile, he averaged 38 receiving yards per game with Watson.
The sample size is big enough to suggest that the Browns play much better with any other quarterback than Watson, but the main problem is that it will be very difficult financially for the franchise to part ways with him.
Watson Is Expected To Play for the Browns Next Year
Watson is expected to recover from the Achilles rupture fully and will likely be ready for the start of next season. Barring any other controversy, he will be part of the Browns team in 2025.
However, the franchise is looking to add more competition to the quarterback room. According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the Browns will look to add players who can challenge Watson for the starting position.
“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,” wrote Breer. ” 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.”
With Winston leading the Browns in Watson’s absence, the team could risk missing out on a top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. That means the team might not be able to draft a quality quarterback, but there is still an option to sign someone in free agency.
These are some of the top quarterbacks who could be available as a free agent after this season:
- Sam Darnold
- Justin Fields/Russell Wilson
- Aaron Rodgers
- Carson Wentz
- Mac Jones
- Jacoby Brissett
- Marcus Mariota
Whether they’ll bring back Winston remains to be seen, but apart from him, there are not many enticing options in the free agent market next year.
Deshaun Watson’s Contract and Salary
After joining the Browns, Watson signed a five-year, $230 million contract with the team. In an unprecedented move, the Browns decided to fully guarantee Watson’s deal. This seemed like an extremely questionable decision at the time given the two dozen sexual assault accusations against the quarterback and the risk associated with a fully guaranteed deal.
Watson’s five-year, $230 million contract pays him an average annual value of $46 million per year. While he isn’t the NFL’s highest-paid quarterback, he did have the most guaranteed money of any player in the NFL for a while.
When Watson initially signed the deal, it was $80 million more than the next-highest amount of guaranteed money in any contract in NFL history. Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott recently surpassed Watson by receiving $231 million in guaranteed money when he signed his record four-year, $240 million deal prior to the 2024 regular season.
Watson’s deal included a $45 million signing bonus and a $1 million salary in 2022 (so he wouldn’t miss out on a significant amount of income while suspended by the NFL for violating its personal conduct policy).
Earlier this year, Watson and the Browns restructured his deal, converting the entirety of the QB’s salary ($46 million) to a signing bonus. This restructuring allowed the Browns to add $36.8 million in cap space for this season.
Given Watson’s recent struggles and ruptured Achilles, his deal is widely regarded as the worst contract in the NFL.
Watson’s stint with Cleveland has been plagued by injuries. Over the last three seasons (from 2022 to 2024), Watson played in just 19 games. Over that span, he threw for 3,365 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions with a 61.2% completion percentage.
This season, Watson is currently the No. 39-ranked quarterback in PFN’s QB+ metric, receiving an F grade. Even before getting hurt, Watson was in the bottom five for nearly every metric, including third-down conversion rate, nYPA, passing from a clean pocket, and passing when under pressure.
Watson is under contract through the 2026 campaign. The fact that Watson’s deal is fully guaranteed makes it very difficult for Cleveland to move on. If the Browns cut Watson after this season, they would have a 2025 dead-cap hit of $118.9 million (including $92 million cash) and a 2026 dead-cap hit of $53.8 million.