As fan frustration boils over, Cleveland Browns front office executive admits the cold truth behind sticking with their polarizing $230 million investment despite years of injuries and controversy.
Todd Monken's recent decision to name Deshaun Watson the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback came with plenty of backlash from fans.
For starters, since Watson's arrival in Cleveland in 2022, his play on the field hasn't come close to matching the lofty expectations the franchise had for him, after trading six picks, including three first rounders to the Houston Texans. The move also came with a first-of-its-kind, $230 million contract extension for the Clemson product, only raising those expectations.
In four years with the franchise, though, Watson has played in only 19 games, thrown for just 3,365 yards, 19 TDs and 12 INT, while completing just 61% of his passes.
His tenure has been marred by a never-ending carousel of season-ending injuries and overshadowed bye more than two dozen accusations of sexual assault and misconduct that necessitated his departure from Houston in the first place.
The situation came to a head like never before following the Browns' 31-7 preseason loss to the Bills when Watson called out the fans for booing him during his disastrous third-quarter performance. Two days later, he was named QB1, creating an unprecedented dynamic between the fan base and it's starting QB.
Regardless of how untenable the relationship between Watson and the fans may be though, Browns assistant GM Catherine Hickman said the quiet part out loud when it comes to the entire saga.
"Everything we do is to win football games, she admitted on Wednesday. "That’s how we make our decisions, that’s how we think about it as an organization, and that’s no different at that position."
In the eyes of those running the Browns, trading for Watson was about trying to upgrade the QB position in the name of winning. Naming him the starter ahead of the 2026 campaign has been framed the same way by Monken, despite all the excess baggage that may come with that decisions.
Throughout training camp, Watson was part of a hotly debated open competition for the starting job with 2025 fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders. Behind them, 2025 third-round pick Dillon Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green rounded out the room.
As fate would have it, all four quarterbacks survived the NFL's roster cut-down day, with Gabriel winding up in the IR to start the season. With all four still in the building, the tough decisions at the position seem far from over.
Hickman seemed to hint at the fact that they faced some difficult ones in regards to fielding trade offers for their QBs prior to trimming the roster to 53.
“Not that I will comment on," Hickman stated when asked if they received any calls on their signal callers. Comments she later tried to clarify as a question for Executive Vice President of Football Operations Andrew Berry would have to comment on.
If teams were reaching out about any of the Browns' QBs, there may be more inquiries on the way, particularly once Gabriel returns from the IR.
Watson, however is essentially guaranteed to be here through the end of this season, whether he starts all 17 games or not. That decision will continue to loom large over the organization for at least another six months.
It's a lingering reminder of just how disappointing the Watson move turned out to be. Hickman's comments provided some necessary context to the team's motivations, though, as a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel approaches.
