REPORT: Browns Have Made Final Decision on Deshaun Watson

For those hoping that the Cleveland Browns would cut ties with quarterback Deshaun Watson after the 2025 NFL campaign, you are probably going to be disappointed.

Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com has revealed that the Browns have no plans to trade or cut Watson following the season, noting that the financial hit would be too significant.

“As for whether or not he’ll be on the team next season, it seems a foregone conclusion that he will be," Cabot wrote. "Watson will be in the final year of his contract next season with a cap charge of $80.716 million, and the dead cap charges would be too high if he was traded or released. The Browns will reduce that number via another restructure, but the economics dictate he’ll likely be around for the fifth and final year of his fully guaranteed, $230 million contract, which averages $46 million a year."

Watson tore his Achilles last October and then re-tore it in January, resulting in a long, tenuous rehab for the three-time Pro Bowler.

Once Watson went down last year, just about everyone assumed he had played his final down in Cleveland, and barring wild unforeseen circumstances, that still appears to be the case.

The Browns drafted both Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders last April, and while neither may be the quarterback of the future in Cleveland, head coach Kevin Stefanski seems far more likely to ride out the rest of the season with them than to give Watson another chance.

The Browns initially acquired Watson in a trade with the Houston Texans back in March 2022, infamously handing him a five-year, $230 million contract that was fully guaranteed. Since then, Watson has played in a grand total of 19 games, amassing 19 passing touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completing 61.2 percent of his passes.

The Watson trade is widely viewed as the worst move in NFL history considering the amount of draft capital Cleveland surrendered plus all of the money it owed — and still owes — the Clemson product.

While Watson is still only 30 years old, it stands to reason that his NFL career is over, but because there are always quarterback-needy teams in the league, it's not out of the realm of possibility that he could play again.

But that almost certainly won't be happening in Cleveland.

The Browns are just 2-8 on the season and should have a great opportunity to select a signal-caller in the NFL Draft next April.