Overlooking the Cleveland Browns has become something of a habit for the national media since the franchise returned to the NFL in 1999. Generally, there has been good reason for habitually brushing off the Browns as Cleveland usually finishes higher in the draft order than it has in the league standings.
However, heading into 2024, the Cleveland Browns are coming off the team’s second playoff appearance in four seasons — and just the third since “Browns 2.0” began play on the eve of the new millennium. For Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson, the expectations for 2024 are also low. But as far as he’s concerned, that’s quite ok. As he told the press this week:
It’s fine with us. It’s perfect. We’re just going to go under the radar and work. That’s all we can do.
Watson’s Checkered Time with Cleveland Browns
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Despite going 5-1 as a starter with the Cleveland Browns last season, Watson is still considered something of a bust over his two seasons since he came to the team in a blockbuster trade with the Houston Texans on March 18, 2022. The reason has less to do with Watson’s performance on the field and more with the massive price that Cleveland paid for him in terms of draft capital and payroll outlay combined with the signal caller’s inability to remain on the field.
As the Baker Mayfield era ignominiously came to a close in the 2021 season, just one year after he led the Browns to a Wild Card playoff win at the rival Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland was looking for a difference maker at quarterback for a young, talented team to rally around.
Amidst much fanfare and just as much derision, the Browns turned to the embattled and available Watson, whose time in Houston was over due to a highly publicized sexual misconduct and assault case and the quarterback’s season-long inactive status with the Texans as the criminal investigation played out.
Watson was traded to the Browns in a deal that included seven total draft picks, including three first-rounders (2022, 2023, 2024) moving from Cleveland to Houston. The Browns also awarded Watson with a fully guaranteed $230 million contract. As the Texans swiftly rebuilt their team from the worst in the league into a playoff appearance — and a Wild Card defeat of the Browns — in 2023 and dark horse Super Bowl contender this season, Watson has played in just 12 total games for Cleveland since the deal.
Watson’s Shoulder Sidetracked Cleveland Browns Last Season
Watson sat out the first 11 games of the 2022 season in a suspension settlement with the NFL over violations of the league’s personal conduct policy in regards to his sexual misconduct and assault case.
He returned for the final six games of that campaign, going 3-3 after throwing for 1,102 yards, seven touchdowns, and five interceptions. His 2023 season began with similar numbers: 1,115 yards passing, seven touchdowns, and four interceptions. The numbers were far removed from Watson’s final three seasons with Houston, but it was good enough to have his Browns competing in the AFC North race.
However, just after losing superstar running back Nick Chubb for the season after his knee was taken out in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Browns also lost Watson due to a shoulder injury. The injury wasn’t considered that serious at first, but it eventually held him to just three hampered appearances the rest of the season. The injury is finally determined to be a broken bone in his shoulder that required surgery, costing him an opportunity to face the Texans in their AFC Wild Card matchup.
Cleveland Browns Need a Full Season out of Watson
Panic bells were sounding as Watson was again hampered by a sore shoulder during his third training camp with the Cleveland Browns. Those fears have been quelled for the moment as Watson was declared fit to start the season opener against the visiting Dallas Cowboys this Sunday.
However, until Watson can play through at least a lion’s share of a season without missing time due to injury, the “bust” label will continue to haunt both him and the organization. Watson missed just one game in three Pro Bowl seasons with the Texans from 2018-2020. The Browns hope Watson can come anywhere close to that reliability — not to mention the statistics — that the still-just 28-year-old quarterback displayed in Houston to validate the massive outlay Cleveland expended to acquire his services.
For his part, Watson isn’t spending much time thinking about the past, instead looking ahead to the promise of a new Cleveland Browns season — one that he hopes will put to rest the shadow of fallibility that has surrounded him for the better part of this decade. He told reporters:
It’s a new year, it’s a new season. … You’ve got to focus on Week 1. In this system and this league, (if) you’re focusing on last year, you’re going to get left behind.
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