If there was one plain reason behind the firing of Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski on Monday after six seasons, it was the fact that quarterback Deshaun Watson was a complete and utter bust for the team.  Watson was signed, back in 2022, to what proved to be one of the worst contracts in NFL history, a five-year, $233 million guaranteed deal under which he played all of 19 games because of injuries and off-field issues.

It can be argued that Stefanski should have made things work with Baker Mayfield when he was in Cleveland, or should have made Shedeur Sanders the starter earlier in the 2025 season. But those decisions would be inconsequential if Watson had been something close to what the Browns thought they were getting.

So there was some bitter irony for Stefanski this week in that Andrew Berry, the general manager who actually gave Watson the contract, will keep his job in the Browns front office, while Stefanski is out. For salt on the wound, Berry also announced that Watson would, in fact, be on the roster for 2026.

Browns ‘Pleased With’ Deshaun Watson

Throughout this past season, as Watson was rehabbing from his second Achilles tendon tear, it became more and more clear that the team would be stuck with keeping Watson on the rest of his contract rather than making a dramatic cut and eating money, the way the Broncos did with Russell Wilson two years ago. On Monday, Berry confirmed that the team expects Watson to stay put.

“First I’ll say we’re very pleased with how Deshaun went through and attacked his rehab this past year, how he engaged with the team, what he did in the meeting rooms,” Berry said. “Very pleased with the progress that he made in that regard. Look, I can never predict the future, but right now we do anticipate him being on the 2026 team. But we have a long way to go before we get to that point with any player.”

Too Much Money Owed to Get Rid of Watson

Of course, it is not that long of a way to go for Berry and the Browns when it comes to Watson. In an effort to stay competitive even as Watson has been sidelined–he missed all of 2025–Cleveland has consistently converted portions of his salary and pushed them forward. He now has a base salary of $80 million on the books for 2026, the last year on his contract, and the Browns will likely push some part of that forward.

He does have $50 million in dead cap in the future, too, according to Spotrac. That will need to accounted for even as the team moves on from Watson after this upcoming season.

For al that money, Berry said that the focus of the Browns this winter and spring still will be to find their next quarterback, an annual rite of passage in Cleveland.

“Solidifying that position, that’s the biggest thing that can lead to sustainable success,” Berry said. “That’s priority number one. How we accomplish that with the combination of internal options, external veteran options, the draft; that remains to be seen. But priority number one is finding a leader for the organization. That’s what our focus is on in the short term.”