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Browns Get Troubling News on Deshaun Watson Whose Return May Cause Major Problems originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
An NFL team with $230 million wrapped up in an injured quarterback is going to do everything it can to get that player healthy and back on the field in just about every scenario imaginable.
But in the case of the Cleveland Browns and Deshaun Watson, the opposite is true.
Watson had his chance — three of them, in fact — to make good on the massive bet the Browns made on him in 2022, but he never panned out.
Watson missed 11 games in 2022 due to an NFL suspension and was bad when he returned. The Browns had some success in 2023 and Watson won some starts, though that was largely because the team fielded the league’s No. 1 defense. Cleveland made the playoffs that year, though Watson was long gone by that point due to a shoulder injury that cost him another 11 contests.
The Browns jettisoned Joe Flacco, who led the team to a 4-1 record down the stretch and its playoff berth in 2023, to clear the way for Watson in 2024. He tore his Achilles tendon in his seventh start of the season, and the Browns went on to win just three games all year.
The franchise is ready to move on, which owner Jimmy Haslam made clear earlier this offseason by admitting the draft haul the team traded for Watson and the massive guaranteed contract they gave him were mistakes. Meanwhile, Watson tore his Achilles tendon a second time during rehabilitation and continues working his way back.
But Watson getting back represents a significant and costly problem for the Browns.
Cleveland can’t get off Watson’s salary for the next two years, but they can recoup much of the money they owe him and the cap space he gobbles up in 2025 by way of an insurance policy — though only if the QB isn’t healthy enough to actually play.
“If he gets a clean bill of health, that’s going to complicate Cleveland’s plan this year,” Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported last week. “They have an insurance policy if he’s unable to play because of his twice-torn Achilles tendon. They’d get back a lot of cash, they’d recover a lot of cap space, and they don’t really need him.”
An Achilles tear often requires a full season to recover. Watson tore his last fall, though it’s the second tear during rehab and that recovery time that will be of true consequence.
“He could eventually file a grievance. Deshaun Watson would be arguing that he’s healthy and the Browns would be arguing he’s not,” Florio continued. “If Deshaun Watson were to win, the Browns would either have to put him on the roster, trade him or cut him.”
Related: Browns Pro Bowler Announces Shocking Starting Quarterback Prediction
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
