His career was over anyways. He was terrible. Couldn't happen to a bigger piece of trash. Nobody should feel sorry for him. He's got generational wealth.
Most of those players suck and the one of the main reasons we got will anderson is the texans were willing to trade their own first round pick which most people thought would be a top 5 pick. If Watson didn't end up just sucking I don't think it was a good trade.
Anderson, Harris, Lassiter, Metchie, and Bullock all STARTED yesterday. Dell was a starter. Pierce is your #1 backup RB and Kick Returner, Hutchinson is your #3 or #4 WR right now, Jamal Hill playing time was increasing before he got put on IR (rookie), Brandon Hill was going to be your backup Strong Safety before he got hurt in training camp.
Yeah, I thought it was a weird statement too, Lassiter and Anderson are just about locks to be pro bowlers next season, Dell is a very competent #2 WR....and if that's all we got, it's still traderape given that all we gave up was an actual rapist in Watson.
Browns: •Deshaun Watson •2024 6th round pick (203rd—Will Reichard) (Browns traded this pick to Denver for Jerry Jeudy; Denver traded this pick to the Jets for Zach Wilson; Jets traded this pick to Minnesota as part of package for Minnesota to move up to select JJ McCarthy) Texans: •2022 1st round pick (13th—Jordan Davis) (Texans traded this pick to Philly for the 15th, 124th, 162nd & 166th picks; Texans traded the 68th, 108th, 124th pick to Cleveland for 44th pick; Texans traded the 80th & 162nd picks to Denver for the 75th pick; Texans traded the 166th & 207th pick to Chicago for the 150th pick) •15th—Kenyon Green •44th—John Metchie •75th—Christian Harris •150th—Thomas Booker•2022 4th round pick (107th—Dameon Pierce) •2023 1st round pick (12th—Jahmyr Gibbs) (Texans traded the 12th & 33rd picks, 2024 27th & 2024 90th picks to Arizona for the 3rd & 105th picks; Arizona traded the 12th, 34th & 168th picks to Detroit for the 6th & 81st picks; Texans traded the 105th pick to Philly for 2024 86th pick; Texans traded the 86th & 123rd pick for the 78th pick) •3rd—Will Anderson •78th—Calen Bullock•2023 3rd round pick (73rd—Jalin Hyatt) (Texans traded the 73rd & 161st pick to LA for the 69th & 191st pick; Texans traded the 191st pick for the 230th & 248th picks; Texans traded the 230th & 2024th 200th pick for 205th pick) •69th—Tank Dell •205th—Xavier Hutchinson •248th—Brandon Hill•2024 1st round pick (23rd—Brian Thomas) (Texans traded the 23rd & 232nd picks to Minnesota for the 42nd & 188th picks & 2025 2nd; Minnesota traded the 23rd & 167th picks & 2025 3rd & 4th round picks for the 17th pick; Texans traded the 2025 2nd to Buffalo for Stefon Diggs, 2025 5th round & 2024 189th pick; Texans traded the 189th pick to Detroit for the 205th & 249th picks) •42nd—Kamari Lassiter •188th—Jamal Hill •205th—Jawhar Jordan •249th—Ladarius Henderson •Stefon Diggs•2024 4th round pick (123rd—Cade Stover) (Acquired in Watson trade; traded for Bullock(see above); re-acquired for 127th pick & 2025 5th round pick)
Thanks for showing the work. Now back to the person that said “all those players suck!”. Where’d that come from? Even Dameon Pierce has provided more positive value to the Texans than Watson has to the Browns (and he’ll continue to suck their cap dry… which is possibly what he asks for during massages anyways).
I should have said “just” Dameon Pierce. Could also say “just” Lassiter…. And neither of those guys were the product of the first round picks that would have been coveted. (But Dell, Anderson via a downstream move…. Its a total whitewash).
“If this is the end of his Browns career, …more settled lawsuits than games played.” Spoiler https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6054794/2025/01/15/cleveland-browns-deshaun-watson-contract-injury/ To grasp how the Cleveland Browns spiraled into one of the worst teams in the NFL, it’s important to first return to the end of last season. The Browns dismantled their offense this year and rebuilt an inferior version in an attempt to appease Deshaun Watson. All of the changes failed miserably. The Browns bottomed out as one of the worst teams in the league and plummeted to a 3-14 finish. They hold the second pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. For three years, the Browns contorted themselves to match Watson’s strengths and desires. But teammates ultimately grew tired of the organization catering to an ineffective quarterback, and he never really fit in Cleveland. He received at least one death threat. Now as a second Achilles tear leaves Watson’s career in danger, the Browns can begin the painful process of officially moving on from the worst trade and biggest mistake in franchise history. How did it get to this? And how did it end so badly? Look to last year. After Watson’s 2023 season ended prematurely with a broken bone in his shoulder, Joe Flacco joined the Browns in December and resurrected his career by throwing for 300 yards in four consecutive games — something Watson failed to do once in 19 starts with the Browns. It was an embarrassing exposure of the franchise quarterback. The problem was never the scheme. Flacco’s performance during an 11-6 finish and improbable run to the playoffs earned him the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year and merited another contract to remain in Cleveland as Watson’s backup. “You have to bring Joe back; somebody has to teach Deshaun the offense,” one member of the organization said as the season neared its conclusion. “Joe picked it up faster in 30 days than Deshaun has in two years.” It was a stinging indictment of a quarterback the Browns invested three first-round picks and guaranteed $230 million to obtain. Coach Kevin Stefanski had shown Watson film clips of his offense during their first meeting in March 2022, demonstrating how Watson could thrive in this wide zone, play-action scheme crafted by Gary Kubiak and Mike Shanahan. But after he arrived in Cleveland, Watson never embraced Stefanski’s system. He wanted to be in shotgun, and Stefanski wanted him under center to make the play-action component more effective. The Browns tried giving Watson what he wanted. They fired offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt after the 2023 season and brought in Ken Dorsey, who had more experience with mobile quarterbacks like Josh Allen and Cam Newton. Two weeks after Van Pelt was fired, Bill Callahan departed as offensive line coach to join his son Brian’s staff in Tennessee. I’ve spoken to players who believe Callahan would have stayed had Van Pelt remained on staff — when Brian first started receiving head-coaching interviews in 2023, Bill made clear he was staying in Cleveland — but all of that seemed to change when Van Pelt was fired. Andy Dickerson was hired to replace Callahan. The changes were a disaster. Dorsey was supposed to deliver the type of offense Watson wanted — one with more choice routes between the quarterback and receivers, more shotgun formations and more freedom. None of it worked, partly because Watson never looked like the same quarterback he was in Houston. The Browns failed to score 20 points in any Watson start this season. They averaged 4 yards per play with him, the lowest mark in the league for any quarterback who made at least five starts, according to TruMedia. It was the third-lowest output by any Browns quarterback who made at least five starts in a season since the team returned to the league in 1999. Only Charlie Frye and Doug Pederson had worse production. The line under Dickerson struggled with injuries and protections. Watson was sacked 33 times in his seven starts, although he did little to help himself. He consistently missed getting proper depth in the pocket — when he was supposed to drop 8 yards, he was only getting 6, according to two players with knowledge of the Browns’ offensive schemes. Watson continually ran into his linemen on sacks because he was standing in places they didn’t expect him to be. At the start of a late August practice, all four Browns quarterbacks went through a standard footwork and accuracy drill that generally ends with each quarterback hearing a color on command from an assistant coach and firing passes toward a net with various colors marked above the targets. But with the early portion of practice open to reporters and cameras, it was odd to see Watson throwing passes to an equipment staffer nearby while the other three quarterbacks tried to hit the net targets. One rival executive who spoke with Browns officials before the start of the season was concerned about what lay ahead for them. “Not an ounce of positivity about the offense,” the executive said. “The vibes aren’t exactly high.” Watson routinely missed open receivers. Passes in the opener against the Dallas Cowboys sailed 5 yards out of bounds. In a September loss to the New York Giants, the Browns ran a slant/out combo route on a run-pass option on a key fourth down late in the game. Tight end Jordan Akins was open in the flat, but Watson didn’t see him and was stopped short of the first down on a keeper. At his weekly media availability three days later, Watson said Akins was “a decoy” on that play and not an intended receiver. “We all saw the same things,” one player said. “We all watch the film. Guys are open.” According to multiple players, those mistakes weren’t pointed out in film sessions, frustrating at least a few veterans who believed Stefanski wouldn’t criticize Watson in front of the team. When Jameis Winston replaced Watson after he tore his Achilles in October, players said Stefanski returned to pointing out the quarterback’s mistakes in film sessions. Off the field, Watson spent the year dealing with traumatic personal matters. His agent, David Mulugheta, received a disturbing email in June from someone threatening to shoot Watson or burn down his house, according to a police report obtained by The Athletic. Police later closed the investigation with no suspects identified. In the week leading up to the season opener, Watson’s father and a college teammate died within a span of a few days. “There are other things that are bigger than this,” Watson said. “It’s been a long week … it wasn’t even really about football.” … If this is the end of his Browns career, his three-year tenure in Cleveland will conclude with a 61 percent completion rate, 3,365 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and more settled lawsuits than games played. Watson’s EPA (expected points added) per dropback with the Browns was -0.19, according to TruMedia, which ranks 197th out of 201 NFL quarterbacks since 2000 (minimum 15 starts). The only quarterbacks who were worse: Zach Wilson (2021-24 New York Jets), John Skelton (2010-12 Arizona Cardinals), Blaine Gabbert (2011-13 Jacksonville Jaguars) and JaMarcus Russell (2007-09 Raiders). Watson is the only name on that list who wasn’t on a rookie deal. Players told me there was a constant heaviness surrounding Watson in the locker room and that they felt a different energy in the building upon his departure after his Achilles injury in October. A couple of veterans told me it felt like a cloud had been lifted. … The image of Watson being carted off the field with a towel draped over his head while a smattering of Browns fans cheered is a painful reminder of how messy the Watson era has been. Three years after handing out the richest guaranteed contract in NFL history, the Browns are back in the quarterback market.
As well as taking Kenyon Green instead of Tyler Smith, Tyler Linderbaum or Trent McDuffie. Once I saw that Kyle Hamilton reached 10 I would have been on the phone that was my dream 2nd pick that year.
