Deshaun Watson Setbacks With Browns Set In Stone Another Fully Guaranteed NFL Contract Isn't Repeating
General manager Andrew Berry was in full spin mode Wednesday morning as he tried to convince everyone the Cleveland Browns can overcome the loss of quarterback Deshaun Watson for the rest of the season.
"How we're approaching things moving forward, we really look at this as an incredible challenge and opportunity for our organization," Berry said.
Yeah, OK, eyes rolling.
Berry Sees 'Opportunity' For Browns
"... We really do have an organization that coaches and staff have grown Teflon skin and cast iron stomachs," he continued. "I'm proud of that and we're going to have to rely on that as we move forward.
"But it really does present a fantastic opportunity as we sit here at 6-3 in the middle of a division race, in the middle of a playoff push, going into the last eight games of the season. How we think about it internally is it really is a team sport and it takes everyone to have success.
"And it's going to be an incredible opportunity for us to continue to win games as we're right in the thick of things."
This is wishful thinking. But we cannot expect different.
Because what else is the GM of a team who just dropped out of Super Bowl contention with one blow of a defender's helmet to Watson's throwing shoulder supposed to say?
What other picture is an architect of the worst contract in NFL history (so far) supposed to draw?
Berry presented an unflappable demeanor to a situation that offers only disappointing outcomes. But he was also unwittingly making the case that trading for Watson, and then signing him to that fully guaranteed $230 million contract, was indeed a mistake.
Deshaun Watson Not At Fault
First let's understand that Watson and the Browns aren't at fault for the fractured shoulder bone that has ended his season after six starts this season.
"I can't control certain injuries," Watson said. "...It's things that happen with everybody in a game."
That's true. But that's the point.
Stuff like this happens all the time. Over and over. Every NFL player that steps on a field is exposed to season-ending and even career-ending injuries on every single play. Everyone knows, and accepts, this as fact.
The Browns knew this in March of 2022 and nonetheless gave up three first-round picks -- one of which they still owe in the 2024 draft -- to the Houston Texans, and then gave Watson that unique and onerous contract.
Browns Have No Way To Escape Watson Deal
Berry confirmed Wednesday there are no outs, back doors or recourses for the Browns to take with that deal other than to continue to live with it.
It is fully guaranteed "for skill, injury and salary cap," Berry said.
So the Browns will complete this season without Watson after having paid him approximately $92 million the past two seasons. And never mind the return they're going to show for that investment is 14 TD passes and 9 interceptions over two seasons.
The problem is the Browns cannot change course after seeing what's happened in those two seasons. They cannot walk away from the deal next year because it would cost them about $201 million in dead money on their cap, depending on the timing of the move.
They likely cannot trade Watson either because that would still burden them with $62 million in dead money and no one else would rush to give up anything to inherit the remaining three fully guaranteed years.
So the revelation Cleveland should find here is no one wants that contract especially if its tied to a player who hasn't performed to any consistently high degree since 2020. That makes it a universally bad deal.
Will Watson Return 100 Percent?
It gets worse. We're talking about a player no one can guarantee will ever play like he did during his Texans heyday four or five years ago. Remember that we're talking about two distinct shoulder injuries, one of which requires surgery, to a quarterback.
Facing that scenario with few other options, the Browns are saying Watson will be back to 100 percent health after next week's surgery even though they really don't know that. And they're saying how thrilled they are to have him.
"He should make a strong recovery," Berry said. "We feel good about Deshaun. We see how talented he is. And we could see it since he returned from his last injury, the level that he's able to play. He's smart. He's physically tough, mentally tough.
"He really is, as Kevin [Stefanski] has mentioned, the leader of the team. Excited to get him back for 2024."
CLEVELAND, OHIO - AUGUST 21: Cleveland Browns co-owner Jimmy Haslam talks with General Manager Andrew Berry during the fourth quarter of a preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles at FirstEnergy Stadium on August 21, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Eagles defeated the Browns 21-20. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Testing Browns Contract With Watson
Now let's test all this:
Even excusing last year's suspension abbreviated season, if Watson had returned to form and remained healthy this year would the idea of a fully guaranteed contract survived examination? Sure. A logical person might conclude Watson raising the Browns to postseason contention starting in his second season and giving the franchise hope of winning it all in his second season was worth it.
But now?
The evidence is in. Rewarding uncertainty with contract certainty is dubious. It should even be so to the Browns had they known better.
Also, if in the middle of negotiations to trade for Watson and sign him to an unprecedented fully guaranteed contract someone had told Berry that in two years his his team's quarterback hopes would rest on rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson, do you think he would have stayed on course to seal the deal?
If Berry had thought Watson would play only 12 of 34 games his first two seasons would he have still made that all-in deal?
In his heart of hearts Berry could not possibly say he'd to make the same point-of-no-return deal.
And that's the reason no other NFL team is likely to do it in the future, either.