Among qualified starting quarterbacks, Deshaun Watson ranks last in QBR. The Browns are riding an 0-for-26 streak on third down with Watson at the controls. The high-priced passer’s struggles have defined this Browns season and most of the past three, though this year has brought a new low for on-field performance.
As a result of Watson’s poor play, Kevin Stefanski has needed to provide weekly status updates on his starter. The recently extended Browns HC has continued to respond in the affirmative regarding Watson’s starting role, though he has since been asked to clarify if higher-ranking members of the organization are insisting the embattled quarterback stay in the lineup.
Stefanski said recently that he and Andrew Berry discuss decisions with ownership, and while the fifth-year GM should be expected to have a key voice in how his head coach constructs his starting lineup, a question was posed to Stefanski regarding ownership’s role in the Watson matter.
“I don’t get caught up in narratives, but we have a good dialogue with myself, Andrew, ownership about all things that have to do with this team,” Stefanski said, via ESPN.com’s Daniel Oyefusi. “They’ve been nothing but supportive, and any decision when it comes to football is my decision.”
Seeing his offense work best with Joe Flacco and Baker Mayfield (the 2020 version, at least), Stefanski has been unable to tailor it to Watson’s skills. At this point, however, it is fair to question whether Watson would succeed in any offense. A three-time Pro Bowler with the Texans, Watson drew a bidding war that also included the Falcons, Panthers and Saints being willing to trade what the Browns ultimately gave up. In addition to becoming the first team since the 1976 49ers to trade three first-round picks for a veteran quarterback, the Browns also authorized an outlier guarantee ($230MM) for a player who had signed a Texans extension in September 2020.
That guarantee drove Watson to Ohio, rather than Georgia. The results have been borderline catastrophic, and if Watson cannot turn things around quickly, the Browns face an albatross unlike anything previously seen in NFL history. Furthermore, cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot adds Berry and Stefanski were aligned on the decision to pursue Watson. While it may well seem like this scenario was forced upon Stefanski, Mayfield had trudged through an injury-plagued 2021 season that brought another step back for the former No. 1 overall pick.
Stefanski is now a two-time NFL Coach of the Year, receiving that honor for coaching Mayfield to a 2020 bounce-back slate — after the 2019 Freddie Kitchens experiment bombed — and then again after Flacco’s stunning resurgence occurred despite widespread injuries on offense. It would stand to reason Jimmy and Dee Haslam would trust Stefanski with this decision, seeing as both he and Berry received offseason extensions.
This Browns staff also pushed for Jameis Winston over Flacco this offseason, with the reigning Comeback Player of the Year not receiving a Browns offer. Winston has 80 starts on his resume from his time in Tampa and New Orleans. Stefanski continues to keep the door closed on Winston stepping in for the struggling Watson.
Though, this is a unique situation due to Watson’s contract, which Berry has now twice restructured. Jimmy Haslam credited Berry with the idea to fully guarantee Watson’s contract back in 2022. While Berry has built an otherwise strong roster, it is now worth wondering — thanks to Watson’s current form — if he could be in danger of following Jon Robinson and Steve Keim as recent GMs to sign extensions only to be fired later that year. No rumors have come out suggesting Berry or Stefanski is in danger, but the longer this goes, the more ownership will want answers for why the historically costly transaction has not panned out.
Watson also recently settled with the latest woman to accuse him of sexual assault, lessening the chances he would face a second suspension. Roger Goodell said (via The Associated Press’ Rob Maaddi) the league is still reviewing the matter, however. Watson needed to have informed the Browns of this incident in order for his future guarantees to be protected. A second ban is about the only chance the Browns have of escaping the guarantees, which are still in place for 2025 and 2026. Thanks to the second restructure, Watson is set to carry cap numbers of $72.9MM in each of those years.
It would cost the Browns a record-obliterating — which is saying something after the Broncos’ Russell Wilson release — $172MM in dead money to cut Watson in 2025. While Nick Chubb is set to make his season debut in Week 7 and the Browns have been without starting O-linemen often this season, it is difficult to find optimism. The team traded Amari Cooper on Tuesday, worsening Watson’s situation. At 1-5, Cleveland may well consider more seller’s moves before the Nov. 5 deadline.
These statements from Stefanski are like hostage videos where they’re forced to state their allegiance to their captors.
Yes, and in other news Jeff Ulbrich has been assured that he has complete control over anything football and is not worried at all about upsetting the QB.
Someone is….and if it’s you, Kevin, you’re not as smart as the football world thinks you are.
You have to assume it’s the owner who was so insistent on acquiring Watson that he authorized far and away the biggest contract in league history. There’s no way Stefanski actually wants to keep running his offense through Watson or dealing with the locker room’s feelings about his play.
I don’t think Johnny Manziel even managed an 0-26 streak on third downs so that gives you an idea of how bad things have gotten…lol.
As a lifelong Browns fan, I cannot wait until we get him off the roster. Worst mistake in Browns history, maybe football history. He is a bad QB and a worse human being. I would literally trade him for a backup 2nd baseman if it meant he was gone.
Everyone is getting fired here.
Then you’re an idiot
But they are mandating that he says this.
He should have refused to say it though, even if it cost him his job. Ownership won’t dump their expensive mistake at QB, so it’s pretty clear who is going to take the fall here. Time to start thinking about yourself and your own career if you’re Kevin.
“While Berry has built an otherwise strong roster…..”
Why does this same B.S. continue to be spewed? A record of 1-5 does not equate to a strong roster. They have big issues on top of the Watson debacle.
That seems a career-limiting statement. It’s better not to say you’re an idiot than to remain quiet and eventually leave the team with your dignity intact. Most everyone believed the owner was the stupid one before clarifying the issue.
This is an owner who rewarded failure when Hue Jackson went 1-31 with the team. He will play Watson till the wheels fall off–or another accuser talks to the NFL–