Browns owner says team ‘took a big swing and miss’ with Watson

A report from January indicated that at least some veteran players with the Cleveland Browns at that time were done with quarterback Deshaun Watson after he suffered a torn Achilles on Oct. 20 and then tore the Achilles again during his recovery. 

While speaking with reporters on Monday, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam seemed to close the door on the club’s disastrous Watson era. 

“We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun,” Haslam acknowledged, as shared by Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “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.”

The Browns controversially sent three first-round picks and other draft assets to the Houston Texans to acquire Watson in March 2022 after he sat out the 2021 season amid his desire to be traded. Allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions hovered over Watson’s status when Cleveland gave him a fully guaranteed five-year, $230M contract to accept the trade, and he ultimately served an 11-game suspension related to those accusations in 2022. 

Two grand juries declined to pursue criminal charges against Watson before he was suspended. 

Watson’s 2023 campaign ended prematurely because of a shoulder injury, and he was one of the league’s worst starting quarterbacks this past season before he went down with the torn Achilles. Many who cover the team believe Watson will never play another meaningful down of football with the Browns even if the club doesn’t select a signal-caller such as Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders with the second pick of the 2025 draft. 

In total, Watson has made just 19 regular-season starts since the end of the 2020 campaign. 

“He’s had three horrific injuries in what, a 15-month period, right? Shoulder, tears his Achilles and re-tears his Achilles,” Haslam said about Watson. “I think the focus now is on getting him healthy, and how long does that take, and when can he be healthy? So, that’s the main thing we’d be focused on.”

Outsiders may never know exactly what was said during conversations involving Haslam, Browns co-owner Dee Haslam, general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski back in the fall of 2021 that resulted in the team replacing fan-favorite Baker Mayfield with Watson. On Monday, Jimmy Haslam accepted the blame for that decision. 

“I’ve said this, I think, numerous times, [that the Watson move] was an entire organization decision, and it ends with Dee and I. So, hold us accountable,” Jimmy Haslam added during his comments. 

One can’t help but wonder if Watson, who hasn’t been shy about sending strong messages to critics
in the past, will respond to Haslam’s comments.