247Sports Embed Resource
OBR Insider Lane Adkins contributed to this report...
The Cleveland Browns have a few decisions to make at the quarterback position this coming offseason. First, they need to decide what to do with Deshaun Watson. Once that is determined, they have to shape the rest of the room.
National media outlets would have you believe the Cleveland Browns are content to trot Deshaun Watson back onto the field next year as their starting quarterback because of owner Jimmy Haslam. Even some in the local media space will tease the idea that Haslam will force head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry because of the money still being paid to Watson.
Plenty of fans are willing to believe that because they simultaneously distrust Haslam, worrying he will give into an impulse to meddle. They will also cite the fact that Watson was never benched even though it was warranted. He was only taken out of the starting lineup due to the injury. And the team hasn't flatly stated their intent to move on from Watson.
Or have they? Berry's statement during his bye week press conference that it's "always a possibility" that Watson could start for the team again was hardly an endorsement. Meanwhile, Cleveland Browns Daily host Nathan Zegura, the team's in-house media outlet, said the team cannot go back to Watson.
Zegura is nothing else if not professional. He doesn't seem to the type to just shoot his mouth off without knowing he's on firm ground when talking about the team. It certainly seemed as though the organization gave him the green light to start hinting that Watson was in the team's past.
Here's what the OBR has learned about the situation.