Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry addressed the quarterback situation while speaking to reporters on Wednesday.
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It appears the Deshaun Watson's ACL injury has brought about concerns regarding the team's future, especially considering his $230 million contract, which entails him being owed $46 million across the next two seasons.
Berry didn't really give a concrete answer on Watson, but did say "its always possible" he will play with the franchise again.
This answer differed from the previous stance the team had, which was defending the quarterback at all costs, even with his off-the-field controversies and underwhelming performances so far during his tenure as the Browns quarterback.
"Really our focus with Deshaun, I would say for any player with a season-ending injury and a major injury, is first and foremost to make sure that he gets healthy from the Achilles injury," Berry said. "Everything else, we'll deal with at a later moment."
This season the Browns only won one game in Watson's six starts at quarterback (1-5), and they did not even reach 20 points in any of those games. To emphasize his woes behind center, Watson actually had the lowest Total QBR (22.4) of any qualified passer in the NFL (per ESPN).
Even with his obvious lackluster play, Berry did point out that it is a team sport.
"We haven't played well as a team and we haven't played well as a unit on offense," Berry continued. "I think oftentimes when you don't play well on offense, obviously your starting quarterback and your playcaller will get the most criticism. But the reality of it is, offenses, it comes down to organization and synchronization. There's just a lot of shared ownership across the different position groups in terms of why we didn't perform."
All in all, Browns fans have many reasons to blame the front office as well, considering they made the controversial trade to acquire Watson after more than two dozen women accused him of sexual assault. And not only that, they gave him an unprecedented contract, that included $230 million in guaranteed money to be paid out across five years.
Deshaun Watson
Since 2022
- $137,000,000
- 18 TouchdownsBaker Mayfield
Since 2022
- $52,000,000
- 49 Touchdowns #TBvsATL x #NFL pic.twitter.com/2lBCU1WTlc— BROWNS OR DIE 💀 (@BrownsorDie) October 4, 2024
After Watson's injury, Jameis Winston has taken over. That is, the 30-year-old veteran quarterback led the team to a Week 8 win in a game-winning performance. However, Week 9 vs. the Chargers ended in a loss.
There are many questions surrounding the Browns' QB position, which is nothing new, as there have been 39 different starting quarterbacks since the franchise returned to the NFL in 1999.
