Two years after the Browns made the controversial decision to trade for Deshaun Watson, they have seen the move backfire. Watson has struggled to find his Texans form and battled injuries since coming to Cleveland. That tenure began with the 11-game suspension incurred from the slew of sexual assault and/or sexual misconduct civil lawsuits that emerged in 2021 and ’22. Two years later, the Browns are still dealing with Watson’s past.
In a civil suit filed in Houston, a woman accused Watson of sexual assaulting her in October 2020. Twenty-six women made similar allegations in civil filings from 2021-22, leading Watson out of Houston. The previous 26 alleged this activity took place during massage appointments. That separates the 2020 incident, which allegedly took place in the woman’s home.
The Browns were certainly not the only team prepared to look past the initial wave of suits and acquire the former star via trade, but being the winner of those March 2022 sweepstakes has significantly affected the franchise. Despite Dak Prescott‘s recent extension including $231MM guaranteed, no team has come close to the Browns’ $230MM fully guaranteed contract.
Still representing the eighth-year quarterback, attorney Rusty Hardin said (via cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot) Watson “strongly denies” the allegations in this latest suit — filed anonymously. The NFL is looking into the matter but has no plans to place the embattled passer on the commissioner’s exempt list, ESPN.com’s Daniel Oyefusi tweets.
Responding to Hardin, the accuser’s attorney — Tony Buzbee, who played a lead role in the previous batch of accusers’ suits — said (via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero) he and his client attempted a private resolution for nearly a year. No settlement occurred. Responding to a question about this timetable, Watson said (via the Lorain Morning Journal’s Jeff Schudel) he had “no idea.” Watson settled suits with 23 of his initial 24 accusers.
Buzbee calls this matter “the most serious and egregious case brought against Watson to date” and indicates Watson’s lawyers did not cooperate. Hence, the filing and more off-field headlines for a player who now has major on-field issues.
Coming back from shoulder surgery, Watson did not play in the preseason. The 28-year-old passer also faced the Cowboys with a similar setup — down Nick Chubb and tackles Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin. The latter two are on their way back, while Chubb remains on the reserve/PUP list. But Watson has shown little indication he will submit a turnaround effort in Cleveland. That threatens to derail an otherwise well-built Browns roster, which fared better with Joe Flacco at the controls last season. Flacco was surprised the Browns did not make an effort to re-sign him, after the 2023 Comeback Player of the Year expressed continued interest in staying. Instead, Jameis Winston is Cleveland’s QB2.
The Browns famously guaranteed Watson’s entire five-year contract. Criticism came the team’s way for doing this, but had the Browns not done that, the Georgia native was poised to waive his no-trade clause for the Falcons. He had previously ruled out Cleveland, but Jimmy Haslam subsequently placed the credit (blame?) on GM Andrew Berry for the idea to offer the fully guaranteed deal to tip the scales. Following Flacco’s run to the playoffs, Haslam extended both Berry and Kevin Stefanski.
Watson said Wednesday ownership communicates support to him daily, but extreme concern about his 2024, ’25 and ’26 seasons bringing fully guaranteed $46MM base salaries has no doubt surfaced inside the Browns’ building. Whether the team can escape the guarantees would come down to Watson being suspended under the NFL’s personal conduct policy again.
Upon signing, Watson needed to inform the Browns of any events that might lead to a future suspension, per Yahoo’s Charles Robinson and Jori Epstein. Although the QB’s first Browns contract was finalized in 2022, SI.com’s Conor Orr indicates he needed only to have informed the team about this matter by March 2023, when the first restructure took place.
Even though this allegation comes from Watson’s time with the Texans, if he did not tell the Browns about it (and it leads to a suspension), it could open the door to guarantees being voided. Though, we are not there yet. Watson denying the incident took place further muddies the waters regarding informing the Browns, which would introduce a gray area in the event this civil matter progresses.
As it stands, Watson counts $19.1MM on Cleveland’s 2024 cap sheet. The Browns, however, moved that number this low due to going through with a second restructure in August. The second reworking inflated Watson’s 2025 and ’26 cap hits to $72.9MM, which would shatter an NFL record — especially now that Prescott is extended — for a single player.
The Browns cutting Watson in 2025 would bring, thanks to the two restructures, $172MM in dead money. Needless to say, Watson is not a realistic 2025 cut candidate — even in a world in which the Broncos just took on $83MM-plus in dead cap on the Russell Wilson contract. In 2026, the Browns moving on would cost more than $99MM in dead money, which would be spread over two years in a post-June 1 scenario.
The QB continuing on his current path and now dealing with another off-field matter obviously reflects poorly on the Browns’ fateful 2022 decision, which also included slashing Watson’s 2022 base salary to the veteran minimum to reduce the money he would lose in a suspension. Watson will continue to start for the Browns, who will hope he can assimilate in an offense designed to be more in line with his skillset — at least, that is the goal — under new OC Ken Dorsey. But the team now has another off-field matter overshadowing its third-year starter.
