The Cleveland Browns “won” the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes in the offseason of 2022, and they remain shackled to their reward for the next three years. By necessity, they agreed to give the former Pro Bowler a five-year contract that was fully guaranteed, end to end. Reportedly, Watson rebuffed their proposal to trade for him until they agreed to pony up on the guarantees.
For his sake, it’s certainly quite fortunate that they did. If they didn’t still owe him over $100 million, most teams likely would have moved on from him by now. The fact is, they haven’t gotten the Deshaun Watson they hoped for. At the very least, they’ve gotten very little of him due to suspension and injury.
Watson is still working his way back from a shoulder injury that prematurely ended his 2023 season. While he looked better last season than in his brief playing time a year earlier, he still looked like more of a spectator of the Browns’ success than the driver. But they need to get the most out of him, either way, so any update is significant.
The Browns’ medical staff have had Watson on a limited throwing regimen as he works his way back from injury. For the most part, he has been throwing every other day, taking rest days in between. But head coach Kevin Stefanski likes what he sees when he does have something to see.
“He looks like Deshaun Watson”, his head coach said, via transcript from the Browns’ website. “Doing everything he’s supposed to do. He’s attacked this rehab from day one of the rehab. When he gets out there and throws it around, which I know you guys saw last week. Looks like Deshaun Watson to me”.
I’m sure Deshaun Watson does, in fact, look like Deshaun Watson on the field. The question is what it means to look like Deshaun Watson at this point and whether that’s a good thing. He hasn’t exactly looked horrible when he has played the past two years, by any means. But he also isn’t putting up the numbers that netted the Texans three first-round picks via trade.
For the Browns, however, they don’t need Watson to be a star. Depending upon how Nick Chubb returns from his injury, they have the necessary tools around him. With Chubb, they have a potentially excellent running game. They also have a very good and impactful defense that could be even better this season.
All Watson really needs to do is play pretty basic football while making the handful of throws per game required of a quality quarterback. They have weapons for him to work with, adding Jerry Jeudy to Amari Cooper and David Njoku.
And if Watson can’t stay healthy, then the Browns hope they are better prepared than last time. They loaded up on quarterback depth this offseason with Jameis Winston and Tyler Huntley. But after two years, they are really hoping to discover just who Deshaun Watson is at this point. They’ve waited long enough for the return on their investment, after all.
