Deshaun Watson insisted Monday night that “there was no contact with the ref,” which is technically true. But he clearly made contact with an umpire. As Deshaun Watson defenses go, this was more credible than when he settled lawsuits from 23 women who described misconduct ranging from forced groping to oral penetration, then claimed he had done nothing wrong. But it was still not all that credible.
Watson had two facemask penalties against the Steelers. He put his hands on umpire Bill Anderson in a way that easily could have led to ejection and suspension. (Officials did not penalize him, and the NFL announced it will not suspend him.)
This was not the behavior of a franchise quarterback, but then, Watson hasn’t played like a franchise quarterback for one game since Donald Trump was president.
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He missed all of 2021 because of his public feud with the Texans and his legal purgatory, and he missed most of last year because of his suspension. He has now played eight games for Cleveland. His best one, statistically, was in January against the Commanders, when he had a 122.5 passer rating. But that rating was skewed—as one-game ratings often are—by the fact that Cleveland’s touchdowns came on passes. Watson only completed 9-of-18 passes for 169 yards. Cleveland had 16 first downs and 301 total yards. He was hardly the engineer of a dominant offense that day.
The Browns are attached to Watson in so many ways: contractually, morally and on the field. How does that feel right now? When the Browns signed Watson, they made a calculated and willfully unprincipled bet; worse, they bet the house—giving up three first-round picks, fully guaranteeing his $230 million contract and structuring that contract so his inevitable 2022 suspension would cost him as little as possible.
The Browns paid him $46 million last year, and all they really got out of it was a chance to keep him on the roster this year and beyond. They restructured his deal last spring to create cap space this year, but they will take cap hits of nearly $64 million in each of the next three years, according to Spotrac. They did all this because they believe that Watson will be one of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL again.
Maybe he will. But the longer this goes on, the harder it is to envision.
Was the frustration Watson showed against the Steelers a sign of a deeper unhappiness? And if it is, what can the Browns do about it? They already told him with their actions that they don’t care about his critics or his behavior. Browns fans who defended his signing surely do not enjoy watching their quarterback play and act so poorly in a loss to the Steelers. If the backlash is getting to Watson, then the worse he plays, the bigger that problem becomes.
Watson is only 28. He was a great player. Maybe he will be one again. But Watson has not played well in a long time. Some context: During Watson’s last productive NFL season, Ben Roethlisberger went 12–3 as a starter. Russell Wilson threw 40 touchdown passes for the Seahawks. Baker Mayfield was a hero in Cleveland for leading the Browns to a playoff win. Carson Wentz was an Eagle. Jordan Love was not yet a Green Bay Packer. Trevor Lawrence was not yet a Jacksonville Jaguar. Tyreek Hill was not yet a Miami Dolphin. Kyler Murray was a full year away from signing the contract extension with Arizona that looks like a mistake now.
Time moves fast in the NFL. As my colleague Conor Orr wrote last fall, when Watson returned to the field: The game changes fast, too.
If Watson had missed most of the past two seasons because of injuries, then played and acted like this, most fans would probably wonder if he was finished. But he was physically healthy and is still fairly young. So it is easy to assume he will be great again. But it is hard, mentally, to be great for the first time in a long time. It is harder still when you have gone from widely beloved to widely reviled, and everybody knows why.
Even if we judge Watson the way the Browns did last year—with an intense focus on winning the Super Bowl, and no real concern for what 23 women said—then their bet still looks lousy. Imagine Watson becoming available tomorrow. Would he fetch anything close to the draft compensation and money that the Browns gave up?
The Browns believed in him so thoroughly that they have no choice: They have to keep believing. They got what they wanted. They are Deshaun Watson’s team.
