Browns Owner Not Committed To Deshaun Watson For 2025 Season – Was It The Worst Deal In NFL History?

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam will not commit to quarterback Deshaun Watson for the 2025 season, instead saying that he and general manager Kevin Stefanski would evaluate at the end of the year. Watson still has two years remaining on the five-year, $230 million contract he signed with the team in 2022.

“We’re all disappointed,” Haslam said of the Browns’ 2024 season. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ll go back and go to work. I’ve learned not to get too emotional during the season. We will sit down after the season, go through everything for next year.”

It’s an understatement to say that the Browns took a risk trading for and signing Watson in 2022. He was facing two dozen civil trials for sexual assault, most of which he would eventually settle. The Texans essentially forced him off the field for the duration of the 2021 season. In signing the problematic passer, the Browns made an expensive and highly unfavorable decision in a desperate attempt to find a franchise quarterback. He failed them.

After serving a 10-game suspension in 2022 for his numerous assault allegations, Watson did not finish the season as advertised. He was flat and indecisive, lacking the dynamic play he demonstrated in five seasons with Houston. In 2023 and 2024, he was just as unremarkable before ending both seasons early with injuries. Backups have repeatedly demonstrated that Watson is holding back the offense.

In 2023, veteran Joe Flacco stepped in for an injured Watson and the team transformed into a powerhouse. Cleveland even made a surprise run to the playoffs, with Flacco throwing for at least 300 yards in five of his six appearances. Watson has never reached that milestone in Cleveland. 

In 2024, Watson returned in even worse form, failing to throw for 200 yards in seven straight appearances before suffering another setback. This time, notorious gunslinger Jameis Winston stepped in and led the Browns to an upset victory over the Ravens in his first start. The team has not been quite as sharp as they were at the end of last year, but Winston has still been a stark improvement. On Dec. 3, he threw for 497 yards in defeat against the Broncos.

Competent play at quarterback would not have been enough to save Watson shredded public image, but failing to provide that for Cleveland has made an already unlikeable talent into an outright roster liability. When Watson was carted off the field with another season-ending injury in 2024, Browns fans cheered his exit. Many pundits and team members criticized this reaction from fans, but it was an overwhelmingly clear indication that Watson has long overstayed his lukewarm welcome in Cleveland.

Though Haslam is hesitant to stand by his long-term signee at quarterback, his options to move on from Watson are limited and daunting. His entire contract is guaranteed, meaning that a buyout would cost the team more than $200 million in dead cap space over the next two seasons. Without sudden improvement, the deal will likely be remembered as the worst in NFL history, severely limiting Cleveland’s spending power during a time when the team could have been a perennial playoff contender.