There seems to be some optimism surrounding the Cleveland Browns after the unexpected success they had this season. Despite season-ending injuries to quarterback Deshaun Watson and star running back Nick Chubb, they finished with an 11-6 record and made the playoffs for only the third time since they began play in 1999.
However, before the shoulder injury that shelved him for the balance of the year, Watson, a three-time Pro Bowler, struggled, completing just 61.4 percent of his pass attempts and throwing for 1,115 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions in six games. When the Browns traded for him prior to last season, it was thought they were getting the true franchise QB that hadn’t had in decades.
Meanwhile, Baker Mayfield, the signal-caller they moved past just prior to landing Watson, finally put it all together and looked like a bona fide star this year for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It led Max Dible of Heavy Sports to suggest Cleveland should fire general manager Andrew Beery for essentially picking Watson over Mayfield.
“The Cleveland Browns have made impressive strides over the past two seasons, though they’ve done so in spite of quarterback Deshaun Watson and not because of him,” wrote Dible.
“The Browns have progressed to an 11-win playoff team over the past two years, but general manager Andrew Berry’s deal to acquire Watson from the Houston Texans now appears clearly, and by far, the worst transaction in franchise history.
“As Cleveland heads into the 2024 offseason — largely hamstrung by the albatross that is Watson’s $230 million fully-guaranteed contract and handcuffed to a quarterback who has started 12 games across two campaigns — the organization should at least consider parting ways with Berry over the managerial malpractice he committed in the trade for Watson.”
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In his first four NFL seasons, all of which were spent with the Houston Texans, Watson looked like an elite QB, or at least something close to one. In 2020, his last full season before being sent to Cleveland, he led the league with 4,823 passing yards while throwing 33 touchdown passes and just seven interceptions.
Meanwhile, Mayfield, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, showed only scattered moments of excellence in his first five NFL seasons. After the 2021 campaign, a member of the Browns’ front office said the team would prefer an “adult” under center, which led to Mayfield asking out.
This season, he threw for 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns while leading Tampa Bay to a playoff win in the wild-card round over the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles.
When the Browns first traded for Watson, some fans were mad at Berry, not because they thought Watson wouldn’t resume his excellent play, but because he was involved in dozens of civil suits stemming from many alleged incidents of sexual misconduct against a group of massage therapists.
Watson was suspended for the first 11 games of last season by the NFL as a result, but with that in his rear-view mirror, the question is what happened to his game?
On the other hand, if he and Chubb regain their old form this fall, the Browns could have at least a puncher’s shot at reaching the Super Bowl, a place they have never been before.
