After four lost years, can Deshaun Watson finally deliver what Cleveland paid him $230 million for?

The Cleveland Browns are preparing for what should make for an awfully interesting season, and few people around the league have more to prove than their one-time franchise quarterback Deshaun Watson. He’s got unfinished business after signing one of the biggest deals in NFL history four years ago.

Legal issues, suspensions and injuries

Let’s take you back to the COVID season of 2020. Deshaun Watson was one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He was coming off his best season ever, throwing for almost 5,000 yards, 33 touchdowns and just seven interceptions with the Houston Texans. His team went just 4-12, but he had just signed a contract that was the second richest in NFL history at the time.

Things came crashing down following his career year. In March of 2016, the first of a total of 27 women came out and filed a civil lawsuit for alleged sexual misconduct and assault. He wasn’t suspended for the next season as the case went to trial but he was ruled out for every game that season and the team listed his absence was due to “non-injury reasons/personal matter.”

Watson wanted a trade after his career year, and the Texans finally obliged after sitting him for the entire 2021 season. He was traded to the Browns before the 2022 season and was set to be the starting quarterback, that is until the NFL suspended him for the first 11 games of the 2022 season after the civil lawsuits had been filed. He played the final six games, threw for just over 1,012 yards, 7 TDs and 5 INTs and the Browns finished the season 7-10.

Back after 16 months

Since coming back from more than a year and a half without playing a single snap, he has been hampered by injury. In 2023 he had a season ending shoulder injury, in October 2024 he tore his achilles after leading the Browns to a 1-6 record in seven games. Then in January of 2025, just months after, he re-ruptured his achilles forcing him to miss all of last season.

For the first time in a long time, Watson is coming into the year healthy but he has been desperately short of reps over the last five years. The last snap he took in a game was in October of 2024. While Watson might have a redemption season on his mind he is going to have to win the starting job in Cleveland before anything. The Browns quarterback situation is complicated to say the least. They will surely be one of the teams to keep an eye on the quarterback competition during the preseason.

Last year, they drafted two quarterbacks, Dillon Gabriel in the third round and Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round. Joe Flacco was the starter at the start of the season, but Gabriel was handed the starting job after a rough start to the season. He got hurt which opened the door for Sanders. No one did enough to earn the starting role, which makes for a fascinating summer from Cleveland.

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