Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans
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Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns is seen on the sidelines against the New York Jets.
The last four years of Deshaun Watson may have felt like an eternity to some Cleveland Browns fans after the team traded three first-round picks for him then paid him $230 million in fully guaranteed money — all for just nine victories in return across only 19 starts.
Then on Sunday, March 29, general manager Andrew Berry floated the notion of bringing Watson back beyond the 2026 season despite the 30-year-old QB’s history of off-field legal and civil issues and the reality that his deal with Cleveland arguably represents the worst trade and the worst contract in NFL history.
“We’re probably just more focused on performance and best players,” Berry told reporters at the annual league meetings in Phoenix, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “Certainly time horizon factors into that, but just with any veteran player, there’s no rule against extending the player’s contract if they perform and they do well. So I wouldn’t necessarily box it into any one approach. It really will be performance-based.”
Cabot paraphrased the larger context of Berry’s comments and the next-to-unthinkable notion underlying them.
“If Watson wins the quarterback battle and plays well, the Browns could always bring him back for more,” Cabot wrote. “In fact, when Berry first traded three first-round picks and more in 2022 for Watson, he said he hoped it would be a 10-year proposition and not just the original five.”
“So when it comes to Watson vs. Shedeur Sanders and whoever else is in the quarterback room this offseason, his expiring contract — worth $46 million a year — won’t be a factor,” she continued.
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Cleveland Browns QB Shedeur Sanders will face stiff competition for the starting job from Deshaun Watson.
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Cabot, and others, have noted that Berry and new head coach Todd Monken continue to indicate, both with their words and actions, that a competition between Watson and Sanders for the QB1 job is the likely path this offseason.
Berry tossed in the notion of adding another quarterback to the mix when speaking with media members Sunday, and Alabama signal-caller Ty Simpson is a name several analysts have floated if he is available in the mid 20s or late 30s, where Cleveland owns picks (Nos. 6, 24 and 39 in Rounds 1 and 2 combined, as of now).
Sanders has some juice, not to mention plenty of fan support, heading into 2026, so Cleveland is more or less obligated to give him a legitimate chance to win the QB1 job after starting the final seven contests of last season.
The team is also unable to get off Watson’s contract in next year, so the prudent choice is to allow him a chance to start after a twice-torn Achilles tendon has sidelined him for more than the last season and a half.
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Arch Manning, Texas Longhorns
GettyTexas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning.
All of that said, extending Watson is a mind-boggling concept considering how much salary cap space the team is going to lose in void years, which now number at four, after the QB’s contract expires following the upcoming campaign.
The Browns are on the hook for dead cap hits of $34.7 million, $25.7 million $16.9 million and $8.9 million between 2027-2030, respectively, after restructuring Watson’s deal yet again to bring his formerly league-leading salary cap hit in 2026 down from more than $80 million to $45 million.
Should Cleveland struggle again during the upcoming year, which is likely given the roster deficiencies, the Browns profile as one of the most likely franchises to pursue a rookie QB in what is projected to be one of the best classes at the position in years in 2027.