After an embarrassing 34-13 loss to the Commanders dropped the Browns to 1-4, head coach Kevin Stefanski insisted that Deshaun Watson would remain the team’s starting quarterback despite his struggles to start to the season.
“We’re not changing quarterbacks,” Stefanski said, via ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi. “We need to play better. I need to coach better.”
But many of the Browns’ problems seem to start with Watson, who has posted a league-low 23.9 Total QBR (among current starters) this season while averaging fewer than 175 passing yards per game. The high-priced QB has thrown five touchdown passes and two interceptions, but his 26 sacks are a league-high. Cleveland has yet to score more than 20 points in a single game this season.
The Browns’ turmoil under center for the past two decades may have conditioned them to poor quarterback play, but Watson is reaching a new low in Cleveland. He started last year with a -0.20 EPA per dropback through Week 5, the lowest of any Browns QB to start the season since 2000, according to The Ringer’s Austin Gayle. That number has dropped to -0.30 EPA per dropback in 2024, severely hindering a Browns offense that is still without Nick Chubb as he recovers from last year’s season-ending knee injury.
But Stefanski is adamant that replacing Watson would not be a cure-all for the anemic offense, despite the presence of viable veteran backup Jameis Winston on the roster. Watson’s latest rough outing came as emergency Browns 2023 replacement Joe Flacco, who wanted to re-sign but was not part of Cleveland’s 2024 plans, posted a 359-yard passing day in a shootout loss to the Jaguars. The Browns did not make Flacco an offer and did not have a Watson benching on their radar despite his poor start through three games. While this latest effort will only intensify the calls for Winston to have a chance, Stefanski intimated this problem is beyond merely his QB1.
“This is not a one-person issue on offense,” Stefanski continued. “We have the guys. We have the coaches. We will get it fixed.”
Stefanski repeatedly emphasized the need for better coaching after Sunday’s loss, but his comments leading up to Week 5 indicate that he will remain the team’s play-caller moving forward. The Browns appeared to have multiple miscommunications on offense against the Commanders, and TV cameras caught Stefanski and Watson exchanging words after the quarterback walked off the field on fourth-and-goal. Stefanski confirmed this summer he would remain the play-caller, installing Ken Dorsey as a non-play-calling OC.
Watson is under contract in Cleveland for two more fully guaranteed seasons, with cap hits of $72.9MM in 2025 and 2026. The Browns’ second restructuring of his contract ballooned those numbers past that $72MM point, which would shatter an NFL record. The former first-round pick is facing another allegation of sexual assault after serving an 11-game suspension in 2022 for violations of the NFL’s personal conduct policy stemming from several lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault. Barring a suspension that could allow the Browns to void Watson’s future guarantees — provided the QB did not inform them of this incident — they remain stuck with this contract.
Thank goodness! We all need to see Watson play more miserable play for that downtrodden franchise.
The ‘Factory of Sadness’ lives!
Trust me, Stefanski wants to bench him, he probably wanted to resign Flacco too, but this stupid ownership is calling the shots here. They are the idiots that cut Mayfield, traded for Watson, and refused to sign Flacco, holy cow!! Just keep your hands off!! Play fantasy football if you want to make stupid moves, just to see how they turn out, but leave the team alone!! I feel sorry for the fans.
Not re-signing Flacco looks worse and worse by the day. This defense just needs a competent offensive playcaller to win games. They’d all just be better off at this point with Jameis just airing it out Favre style. Go for another 30 TD/30 Ints
In other words, it would cost too much for the franchise to admit the terrible mistake they made with the trade. Rather than deal with the sunk cost and move on, they’re going to bury their heads in the sand and pretend Watson is going to magically become not awful.
A plan made by clowns is at least good for a laugh, I guess.
I don’t give a Flying J what anyone else thinks. We all know who the real Pilot of this disaster is.
Karma is blinder than (unrequested) love but it can still find it’s way to Cleveland.
Enjoy.
In other news Browns not planning to have a good offense
Hmmm…WWBBD?
Mumble.
Haslam made this mess, he needs to clean it up. And soon. Jimmy & Dee need to concentrate on the team and not on a new domed stadium.
Haslam needs to sell the team. Browns will never win anything with Haslam around.
At this point the Browns might as well keep rolling with Watson. They’re not coming back from a 1-4 start and they have to pay him regardless. Suffer through this atrocity the rest of the way and enjoy the top 3 pick in the draft
Browns deserve everything they get by signing this pos scumbag.
I’ve been a Browns fan since the 1960’s, and have decided to remain a fan. But I will be taking time off until Watson and Andrew Berry are gone.
Insane, the team clearly hates Watson. Not sure there’s ever been a more hated active player.