The Cleveland Browns were always likely to keep Deshaun Watson in the fold for 2025 solely because of the amount of money he is owed. However, they are determined to give him the chance to win back his starting quarterback job as well.
The Browns intend to give Watson every chance to start for them again in 2025, according to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. Beyond the financial implications, the Browns genuinely believe Watson can play at a higher level than he showed in 2024, and that he was not helped by injuries to key offensive linemen. In addition, the team believes that their major scheme overhaul in the offseason contributed to Watson’s issues, and are focused on a more stable offseason so he can hit the ground running in 2025.
Despite this stance, the Browns do not plan to put all their faith in Watson. As has been previously reported, the team plans to bring in another quarterback who is good enough to at least compete with Watson for the starting job. That could involve drafting a quarterback, though no decisions have been made.
At least publicly, the Browns have not committed to Watson as their 2025 starter. Considering how terrible he was before suffering a season-ending Achilles injury, that stance is understandable. The quarterback’s massive contract means he still has cap hits of roughly $73 million in each of the next two seasons, an issue that has contributed to his deep unpopularity among Browns fans and makes him virtually impossible to move on from.
The Browns’ issue is that Watson’s struggles before the injury were hardly new. While he was historically bad for Cleveland prior to his injury, he has averaged fewer than 200 passing yards per game throughout his entire Browns career. Having to come back from an Achilles injury is not going to make things better, either. This may be wishful thinking on Cleveland’s part more than anything else.
