QB Deshaun Watson Gets More Bad News on Browns Future

he Cleveland Browns did everything they could as a franchise to allow QB Deshaun Watson to succeed across his first three years, but the team’s philosophy has now shifted a full 180 degrees.

Cleveland owner Jimmy Haslam publicly acknowledged that the trade for Watson, and the subsequent signing of him to a $230 million deal, was an enormous mistake. And the team’s recent decision to ink Joe Flacco exemplified perfectly both the pivot the Browns are making under center and precisely what that pivot means for Watson.

“For what it’s worth, Flacco’s popularity in the locker room and performance under Kevin Stefanski in 2023 was a big factor in the team walking away from him last year. The Browns felt like they had to clear the decks to give Watson the best chance. So Flacco’s return is further confirmation of what we already know,” Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote on Tuesday, April 14.  “If Watson’s going to revive his career, it will have to happen on different terms than he’s been used to. He’ll have to work his way up the depth chart without a recruiting ranking or his draft position buoying his candidacy.”