Deshaun Watson's season with the Cleveland Browns ended after he tore his Achilles against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7. He's now on the path to recovery and the Browns continued with a lost season, sitting in last in the AFC North with a 2-7 record through Week 10. Jameis Winston led the offense to more success overall but the Browns have still struggled to win with Watson sidelined and attention is now largely shifting towards what 2025 can look like.
To whit, Browns GM Andrew Berry met with reporters on Wednesday to discuss the recently-passed NFL trade deadline and was asked about Watson's future in Cleveland. He gave a pretty lukewarm response that could not be confused with a ringing endorsement in any sense.
Per Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN, when asked if it's possible that Watson will come back and play quarterback for the Browns, Berry said," Yeah I think that's always possible."
Berry did not really take the opportunity to enthusiastically support his quarterback and that is noteworthy. Especially because Watson's contract, which Berry gave him, makes it pretty difficult for the Browns to move on even if they wanted to. The quarterback has two years left on his fully guaranteed $230 million deal after the 2024 season ends, and as it stands the Browns would have to take a $172 million cap hit if they cut or traded Watson in 2025. They could always just bench him but that's a lot of money coming out of the owner's pockets for a guy who doesn't play and attracts bad headlines either way.
So even with all those reasons that effectively force the Browns to stick with Watson, Berry would only say it was possible he starts again. A quote to look back on once the season wraps up and hard decisions are made in the offseason.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Browns GM Had Lukewarm Response When Asked About Deshaun Watson's Future in Cleveland.
