Cleveland’s fanbase came into Sunday’s home Browns-Bengals showdown steeped in feelings. Some of them greeted their own quarterback, Deshaun Watson, with deafening boos as he ran onto the field. If there was any doubt about how many fans feel about Watson, the same crowd showered running back Nick Chubb with cheers at an even higher decibel as he made his return from a lengthy injury layoff.
Watson looks like he is headed for a lengthy period on the sidelines himself: in the second quarter, he went down with what the Browns fear is a torn achilles. Probably out for the season. Possibly the end of Watson’s career – the quarterback’s play has declined and achilles injuries often leave players a shadow of their former selves. As Watson was carted off the field in tears, the feelings in Cleveland were on overdrive. For some, there was catharsis or a feeling that karma had been served. For others, there was legitimate sadness. After all, despite Watson’s dismal performance as Cleveland’s man under center, and the allegations against him as a man, you never want to see someone injured. Although maybe in this case, you do. Some of the Browns fans did: there were scattered cheers when Watson went down injured, a reaction Cleveland cornerback Greg Newsome II later described as “bullshit”.
One feeling that all Browns fans can agree upon is regret. Deep regret. If Browns owner Jimmy Haslam giving Watson $230m in guaranteed money in 2022 wasn’t already the worst contract in NFL history, the achilles injury on Sunday made it official.
Haslam set the gold standard in how not to gift a contract. Not only by the sheer amount of guaranteed money, the most in NFL history, but by handing the franchise to a player who was almost certainly set for a lengthy suspension over those sexual misconduct allegations (the ban ended up being 11 games). Haslam’s plan that Watson the player would make Watson the person palatable failed from the jump.
Watson’s debut didn’t come until Week 13 of the 2022 season. His performance that season was meh at best. He looked nothing like the young Houston Texans quarterback who was both efficient and explosive. The Browns went 3-3 with Watson under center in 2022 and finished 7-10, last in the AFC North. Every game he played that season – with incessant boos at stadiums around the US – was also a reminder of what many thought of Watson the person.
Watson’s second season was cut short by a shoulder injury. Everyman hero Joe Flacco stepped in and did an admirable job but it was Cleveland’s elite defense that led them to a playoff berth.
Any glimmer of hope for the Browns that Watson would morph into even an above-average quarterback quickly evaporated this season. Under Watson, the Browns have a 1-6 record, including Sunday’s 21-14 loss to Cincinnati. He had yet to top 200 passing yards in a game this season, and was last in QBR among qualified quarterbacks. Moving on from him will be expensive too: he’s guaranteed $46m a season in the final two years of his contract. There are plenty of badly run franchises in the NFL: but none of them are dumb enough to take Watson and his huge contract off the Browns’ hands.
So, from a football-only standpoint Watson’s tumultuous time in Cleveland has been a failure. Add in the fact that he’s an alleged predator, with more than 24 women accusing him of sexual misconduct and the Browns’ thinking is unfathomable (Watson settled more than two dozen lawsuits involving his accusers out of court but he has never been criminally charged over the allegations). For many fans – including some in Cleveland – there is no passer rating Watson could achieve to erase the allegations that surround him.
The Browns’ sad and seedy Watson era is going to take time to move past, although some may not understand what that means. Jameis Winston, who hardly has a clean reputation himself, ended Sunday’s game as Cleveland’s quarterback. He was asked about Watson after the game. “I’m grateful that I had a chance to serve Deshaun, but I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years,” said Winston. Perhaps it’s worth Winston asking why the world was against Watson in the first place.
