This past offseason, Cleveland Browns reporters such as Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand and Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer mentioned that the club did not offer current Indianapolis Colts quarterback Joe Flacco even "the minimum NFL contract" to stay with Cleveland for another season largely because people within the organization didn't want to deal with fans "chanting for Flacco in games where" starter Deshaun Watson played poorly.
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio seemed to confirm such takes on Monday when he shared that Flacco said the Browns "made him no offer to return for 2024" after the 39-year-old won four of five regular-season starts to help the team earn a playoff berth.
"The reason is obvious," Florio explained. "Flacco did too well last year. This year, Browns fans would be clamoring loudly for Flacco four games into another unimpressive showing from Deshaun Watson. It all flows back to Watson’s contract."
Watson famously received a fully guaranteed five-year, $230M deal to join the Browns via a trade from the Houston Texans in March 2022 but then made just 12 starts across his first two seasons with Cleveland. Most recently, he missed over half of the 2023 campaign because of a shoulder injury and then watched as Flacco became a beloved fan-favorite and the reigning Comeback Player of the Year.
Along with replacing Flacco with current primary backup Jameis Winston, Cleveland also replaced offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt with Ken Dorsey in an attempt to help Watson reclaim the form that made him a three-time Pro Bowl selection with Houston. Thus far, Watson has lost three of his first four starts this season.
According to Pro Football Reference, Watson began Monday ranked 32nd among 33 qualified players with a 23.8 adjusted QBR and 32nd with a 31.7% passing success rate on the campaign. He tossed four touchdown passes and three interceptions over Cleveland's first four games.
Meanwhile, Flacco completed 16-of-26 passes for 168 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in Indianapolis' 27-24 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday after second-year pro Anthony Richardson went down with a hip pointer. Richardson reportedly is expected to miss "very little or no game action" beyond the Pittsburgh contest due to that setback.
There's currently no indication Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski is thinking about starting Winston over Watson for this coming Sunday's game at the 3-1 Washington Commanders. Unless Watson turns back into a top-tier player at the sport's most important position soon, Cleveland fans may spend the upcoming winter wondering what could have been had the club held onto Flacco earlier this year.
