After two years with the Browns, Deshaun Watson has more civil lawsuits than touchdowns to his name. Why the Watson experiment failed.
The most important thing in brief
- Things are anything but smooth for the Browns and quarterback Deshaun Watson.
- Amid all the controversy surrounding Watson, his signing two years ago was risky.
- Now they can’t get rid of him.
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In March 2022, the Browns dug deep into their pockets for the scandal-plagued Deshaun Watson: They gave five draft picks to his former team, the Houston Texans.
And Watson himself received a record five-year contract with $230 million guaranteed. The risky investment has not yet paid off in the two years since then.
Deshaun Watson comes to the Houston Texans in 2017 as one of the best college players in his class, who selected him with the 12th overall pick in the NFL draft.
In his first two years as a starter with the Texans, Watson threw for almost 8,000 yards and 52 touchdowns, putting him on par with superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was picked just one spot ahead of him by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017. Coaching legend John Gruden once called Watson the “Michael Jordan of the NFL.”
A year later, Watson is second in the MVP race behind Aaron Rodgers, but despite Watson’s brilliant performances, his Texans can’t get past four wins this season and finish second to last in the AFC. The revamped Texans have too many structural deficiencies for a brilliant Watson to cover up.
The season finale against the division rival from Tennessee is emblematic: Watson throws 365 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Titans, his Texans still lose, and he leaves the field visibly dissatisfied.
But even before the first trade offers, the accusations: In March 2021, numerous sports masseuses from Houston made serious allegations against Deshaun Watson. By summer, 22 women have come forward and accused Deshaun Watson of sexual assault during private massage sessions.
There is currently great outrage over the masseuses’ reports. The NFL is also considering disciplinary measures against the then 25-year-old. A Watson trade will not yet take place in 2021.
He then went on strike and sat out the entire 2021 season. With Watson sidelined, the Texans finish the season 4-13. The Texans will entertain the first trade inquiries in the spring of 2022. Meanwhile, the NFL is considering suspending Watson for the 2022 season.
The trade
The Browns went all-in and signed Watson to a five-year, $230 million contract – at the time the most expensive player contract in NFL history.
The Watson trade is controversial not only because of his charges and pending suspension. Watson’s predecessor with the Browns, Baker Mayfield, had a disappointing season, much of which he played with a shoulder injury.
Nevertheless, the 2016 number 1 pick played a significant part in rebuilding the Browns, who had been so insignificant for a long time. In 2020, Mayfield led the Browns to their first playoff win in almost 30 years and was still considered an identification figure for some Browns fans.
Watson’s first season with the Browns was only half: The NFL suspended him for 11 games this season for violating the NFL code of conduct as part of the serious allegations against him.
So Watson hadn’t played an NFL game in almost two years before his first game for the Browns in December 2022 – and it shows. He finished the 2022 season with the lowest quarterback rating (79.1) and touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio of his career (7 TD, 5 INT).
But now that Deshaun Watson is back at the helm, the Browns seem tactless, unimaginative, and simply lost.
Because in 2022, the Browns made the conscious decision to award a multi-year, irrevocable and unconditional mega-contract to a supposedly “more mature” quarterback who has not played NFL football for two years and has been accused of sexual assault by over 25 women. Now they are stuck with a $230 million bad investment.
What now?
President Jimmy Haslam, GM Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski made a $230 million, five draft pick mistake. Maybe it’s time to admit the mistake – and dare to change course.
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