Deshaun Watson will be back with the Cleveland Browns next season but his path back to the field is anything but certain and depends heavily on Shedeur Sanders.
The Browns acquired Watson in a blockbuster trade in 2022, believing they had finally solved the franchise’s decades-long quarterback problem. Instead, the move has unraveled into what owner Jimmy Haslam bluntly labeled a “swing and miss.”
“I mean, I said it. You know, when you trade for a player and you give up three number ones and two number threes, that really depletes your ability to raise the roster,” Haslam said on Jan. 5, revisiting that statement. “So, did it have impact? Yes.”
Watson signed a fully guaranteed $230 million contract but has appeared in only 19 games across four seasons because of suspension and injuries. In those starts, he posted a 9-10 record, throwing for 3,365 yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Deshaun Watson to Return With Browns
Watson missed the entire 2025 season while rehabbing a twice-torn Achilles. He returned to practice for three weeks late in the year but was never activated to the Browns’ 53-man roster. However, general manager Andrew Berry nearly guaranteed Watson will be around next season.
“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. Very pleased with the progress that he made in that regard,” Berry said. “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.”
Watson is entering the final year of his contract next season with a staggering $80.716 million cap hit. Trading or releasing him would saddle the Browns with massive dead money, effectively tying their hands.
Deshaun Watson Could be Bridge for Browns
Watson’s best-case scenario in Cleveland may be settling into a bridge quarterback role if the Browns opt to select a rookie passer in the NFL Draft. That outcome, however, hinges on how the organization ultimately evaluates Sanders, who started the final seven games of the season. Sanders showed flashes of promise but delivered inconsistent results, finishing that stretch with 1,400 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
“I think it’s just going to be determined by is it going to be Shedeur Sanders? And if Shedeur is going to be the quarterback next season, it seems to me that they would just keep going with him,” Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com said. “I don’t think they would sit him down on the bench for a while and then let Deshaun go out there and play. That doesn’t seem like it would make.”
She did leave a glimmer of hope for Watson.
“I do think that there is a world in which Deshaun can be their bridge quarterback. Now, you’d be taking a risk,” Cabot said. “Nobody knows what he’s going to look like in the heat of the moment out there on the football field after being out of it for so long. But the Browns have liked what they’ve seen inside the field house.”
