Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, center, poses for a portrait with general manager Andrew Berry, left, and coach Kevin Stefanski during Watson’s introductory news conference on March 26, 2022, at the Browns training facility in Berea. Deshaun Watson might miss part or all of the 2025 season and hears the whispers of his demise as doubts multiply about his ability to rediscover the form that tempted the Cleveland Browns into acquiring him from the Houston Texans three years ago.
Watson is recovering from a pair of Achilles tendon surgeries in a span of less than four months. He played in 19 of a possible 51 games with the Browns since being acquired from the Texans in March 2022, a deal Cleveland made despite the quarterback being accused of committing sexual improprieties by more than two dozen massage therapists in the Houston area.
Even Browns owner Jimmy Haslam went on the record last month to label the trade a “swing and miss,” a major revelation considering it came from the individual approving Watson’s checks.
Watson posted a brief video addressing the doubters on Thursday.
“Everyone is doubting me. Everyone don’t believe in me,” Watson said in a video posted to Instagram. “Everyone don’t think I can get back to where I was. But I know, and I believe the work that I put in, that I believe in myself. … I know, I’m gonna be way better than before.”
The Browns acquired Watson in exchange for first-round draft picks in 2022, 2023 and 2024, along with a 2023 third-round pick, and fourth-round picks in 2022 and 2024. In return, they received Watson — 9-10 as a starter with the Browns — and a 2024 sixth-round pick.
The Browns finally are back in the first round of the draft and hold the No. 2 overall pick in the April 24 draft. With only Watson and recently acquired Kenny Pickett on the roster, Cleveland has a hole to dig out of, according to Haslam.
Before he played a game for the Browns, the franchise signed Watson, who then had three Pro Bowl selections to his credit, to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract. He is still owed $92 million.
“We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun,” Haslam said last month. “We thought we had the quarterback, we didn’t, and we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him. So we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole. (It) was an entire organization decision and it ends with Dee (Haslam, Jimmy’s wife and franchise co-owner) and I, so hold us accountable.”
–Field Level Media
