There is a strange atmosphere between the Browns and quarterback Deshaun Watson. And nothing that has happened in the last few days has caused it to disband.
It started in Week 4. In the days after Watson played perhaps the best game of his Cleveland career in a 27-3 win over the Titans, Watson appeared on the practice report with a shoulder injury. It was limited in practice. On Friday he said he would play against Baltimore.
Then he didn’t.
At 5:04 p.m. ET on the day of the Ravens-Browns game, a source tipped me off that there was confusion among some players that Watson wasn’t playing. People thought he was playing. It became clear that he had decided against it.
Although the team called it a “collective decision” when contacted by PFT, coach Kevin Stefanski said the very next day that Watson had been medically cleared to play. That reinforced the idea that Watson could have played against the Ravens.
It was thought he could continue after the bye in Week 5. But he was unable to play against the 49ers and returned to play against the Colts on Sunday.
A big hit in the first quarter led to a concussion assessment. After the game, Stefanski said he decided to keep Watson out. Stefanski also spoke as if Watson would play in Seattle this week. In contrast, Watson offered a more measured assessment. Yesterday, Watson was ruled out for the Week 8 game.
Although some have suggested that Watson simply doesn’t want to play, it’s far too early to come to that conclusion. He played with a torn ACL at Clemson. He took a bus from Houston to Jacksonville and back so he could play a game for the Texans when he couldn’t fly due to rib/lung injuries. Why wouldn’t he want to play if he could? The Browns are a contender, and before the shoulder injury, Watson appeared to finally be returning to his pre-2021 form.
Still, it would be naive not to at least wonder if Watson has fallen in love with the Browns. He wanted to leave Houston just months after signing an expensive contract extension. Additionally, the Browns became the first team to remove Watson from its list of four finalists in 2022, before the Browns offered a five-year, fully guaranteed contract.
So, yes, there is a strange vibe. Neither the team nor Watson said or did anything to change the situation. And we’ll continue to monitor things and generally snoop around to see if the honeymoon has turned into a stalemate that, frankly, leaves both sides with few good options, considering Watson in 2023, in 2024 and in 2024 Expected to earn $46 million in 2024 in 2025, with every penny of that fully guaranteed.
That’s almost enough to make us wonder if there could be a surprise trade before next Tuesday. However, who would take over the balance of this contract at that point?