Sound the alarm — Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has finally admitted defeat when it comes to the Deshaun Watson trade.
The NFL’s Annual League meeting is taking place over the next few days in Palm Beach, Florida, where we’ll get to hear a bunch of juicy sound bites or news on rule changes for the 2025 season. GM Andrew Berry already talked the other day about some draft-related business, but it was Haslam’s turn to speak on Monday. That’s where the biggest quote of the weekend was unleashed:
“We took a big swing and a miss with Deshaun.”
A fitting baseball reference as the MLB season gets underway. Granted, the writing was on the wall, based on how everything has transpired over the past several years. Literally 100% of people can admit that the trade was a complete disaster. Still, it feels like the final nail in the coffin — the extra layer of closure, or turning of the page, or however you want to put it, when Haslam bluntly comes out and says it. Even as Watson recovers from a torn Achilles that will likely prevent him from playing in 2025, his future as a Brown is finished.
Here is the full quote from Haslam, for context:
“We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun. We thought we had the quarterback, we didn’t and we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him. So we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole. [The trade] was an entire organization decision and it ends with Dee and I, so hold us accountable.”
Despite Haslam calling it an entire organization decision, he also said that he and Dee Haslam are the ones who should be held accountable. As for why the trade failed, Dee Haslam told reporters that there were some “unusual situations,” but also attributed “really bad injuries” to the downfall of Watson and the team.
With the team moving on from Watson, does that mean they’ll look to draft a quarterback at No. 2 overall? They’ll scout the possibility, but they aren’t going to force it, and will take a year or two to take the position right if necessary:
#Browns Jimmy Haslam said today they "have to get it right in the draft" and that if the QB isn't there, they'll take a year or two to get that right.
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) March 31, 2025