Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson has offered the remainder of the NFL with an limitless stream of leisure. Sadly for them, it hasn’t been the form of leisure they anticipated, however quite schadenfreude. Now out with a season-ending harm, his future with the group is a scorching subject. Whereas he has two extra years of assured wage, they don’t need to play him—and even roster him
Browns GM Andrew Berry fielded a ton of questions on Watson yesterday, and he did his finest to provide elusive solutions. As HC Kevin Stefanski beforehand, he was unwilling to make a tough dedication to Watson being their starter once more if he have been totally wholesome.
“Our focus organizationally is on ensuring that [Watson] will get wholesome”, the Browns GM stated. Requested if the choice about this future as a starter then was about well being and never efficiency, he stated. “No, I’d say this, once more, our focus is on getting him wholesome and we’ll go from there”.
As I talked about final time when Browns beat writers posed an identical query to Stefanski, this isn’t the form of reply a group offers a couple of respectable franchise quarterback. You’d by no means get a “we’ll go from there” reply about Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen following a serious harm. The Browns usually are not saying what everybody is aware of at this level what they’re fascinated by Deshaun Watson.
Whereas groups are typically cautious about what they may and gained’t say, the Browns’ navigation of the Deshaun Watson concern nonetheless speaks volumes. Requested about his play, Berry deflected and pushed the difficulty to team-wide considerations. Most telling was his reply when requested to mirror on the commerce itself.
“I’m actually not in reflection mode”, he stated when requested level clean of the Browns nonetheless consider it was smart to make the commerce for Deshaun Watson. “I keep in mind I obtained requested this about [Joshua] Dobbs final 12 months, it’s not likely my focus at this level within the 12 months. Our focus is de facto on ending out the 2024 season, having the group play at a better stage, after which we’ll get to these possibly long run or large image reflections at a later cut-off date”.
However the Deshaun Watson commerce has nothing to do with the Joshua Dobbs transfer, neither is it even near the identical stakes. The Browns gave up an unlimited a part of their future on the promise that Watson would change these losses. $230 million over 5 years, assured, and three first-round picks, plus further picks. They usually have a 9-10 file to indicate for it over three years. You merely don’t say, in the midst of the third 12 months of a five-year contract, that you just’re “not in reflection mode” on the subject of the acquisition of a franchise quarterback.
The most effective Andrew Berry might handle pertaining to the way forward for Deshaun Watson with the Cleveland Brown was acknowledging it was “all the time potential” there was some universe through which he began one other recreation. That’s hardly a ringing endorsement for the most important funding within the historical past of the franchise.
