The Cleveland Browns and the Houston Texans have agreed upon a historical deal. Afterword spread earlier this week that Deshaun Watson had eliminated the Browns from contention as a landing spot, a complete turn of events took place Friday afternoon.
Watson informed Houston that he would be waiving his no-trade clause to go to Cleveland in a shocker as most expected he would choose the Atlanta Falcons or New Orleans Saints.
Shortly after the news came out of his decision came word that the team and his agent had agreed to a historic deal in terms of guaranteed money.
We are slowly learning details of the trade between the two teams as well. First, Tom Pelissero reported it would be five draft picks. Then, Adam Schefter came along with even more details but stated the deal had not been finalized yet:
Browns and Texans still are finalizing official trade compensation for Deshaun Watson, but it is expected to include three first-round picks, a third-round pick and potentially a fifth-round pick, league sources tell ESPN.
Five picks for Watson.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 18, 2022
Update:
Ian Rapoport is now reporting that the deal is complete:
Sources: The #Browns and #Texans are in agreement on a trade for Deshaun Watson. It’s three first-round picks, a third-rounder and late-round pick swap, a fourth for a fifth.
It’s done. He’s a member of the #Browns.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 18, 2022
Five picks (three first-round, one third-round and one fourth-round) out with Watson and a fifth-round pick in return.
End Update
It is possible that there are more details involved with the trade including the possibility of players. Cleveland currently is scheduled to have the 13th pick in the 2022 NFL draft. They also have an extra third-round pick from the hiring of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and an extra fourth-round pick from a trade during last year’s draft.
