Despite the team’s supposed desire to move on, Watson is still rehabbing at the Browns’ facility in Berea, quoting lyrics from Rod Wave’s ‘Shock Da World.’
CLEVELAND — Earlier this week, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam admitted what many of us unfortunately already knew: That the 2022 trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson has been a massive failure.
“We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun,” Haslam said at the NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Florida, per Mary Kay Cabot of 3News media partner Cleveland.com. “We thought we had the quarterback, we didn’t and we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him. So we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole.”
With those definitive comments and the Browns seemingly poised to take another QB in the upcoming draft (either at No. 2 overall or later), it appears Watson’s time in Cleveland is all but finished, right?
Well, don’t tell that to him.
On Thursday, Watson took to Instagram to post photos of himself rehabbing his Achilles, doing so at Browns’ headquarters in Berea while donned in orange and brown gear — including a cap with the club’s helmet logo emblazoned on the front. The 29-year-old also quoted rapper Rod Wave’s song “Shock Da World,” writing “maybe, if I weren’t built for this, I’d let it phase me.”
A direct response to Haslam’s doubts? We’ll leave that open to interpretation. For what its worth, his Cleveland teammate and current free agent Elijah Moore offered his support, writing “Lyrics ????” in the comments.
When the Browns acquired Watson from the Houston Texans more than three years ago, they not only gave up three first-round draft picks, but also paid him a then-league record $230 million in guaranteed money. In the three seasons since, Watson has only played 17 out of a possible 52 games for Cleveland, thanks both to a suspension for alleged sexual misconduct followed by injuries to his shoulder and Achilles. The latter ailment cost him most of 2024, and will now keep him out for a “significant” portion of 2025 after he re-ruptured the ligament.
What’s more, if the team wanted to cut Watson today, they would be eating a dead cap hit of more than $167 million, essentially preventing them from adding any talent to a roster that was already a mess after finishing 3-14 last year. Per Spotrac, the dead cap hit won’t fall below $100 million until Watson is due to enter free agency in 2027, and won’t be fully paid out until after 2029 thanks to multiple restructures.
That means Cleveland is essentially forced to keep Watson on the roster for the next two years, even if he never takes another snap for the organization again. The only possible avenue for an official separation would have to be some sort of settlement that saw Watson take a pay cut to become a free agent, and with him appearing to simply dig his heals on on social media, that seems highly unlikely.
As for the quarterback position, Haslam believes it will “take a year or two to get that right.” The NFL draft begins April 24 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.