CLEVELAND — Another season-ending injury to Deshaun Watson will leave the Browns in the quarterback wilderness again, and Joe Flacco isn't here to lead them out of it this time.
Watson suffered a significant injury to his right Achilles tendon with 1:22 left in the second quarter of Sunday's 21-14 loss to the AFC North rival Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field. He was carted off as players from both teams surrounded him.
After the game, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said the injury looks like it will end Watson's season. The team will let forthcoming tests render a final verdict.
This situation adds another complicated layer to what has been a disastrous March 2022 trade for Watson.
Last year, Watson missed the final 11 regular-season games with a fractured glenoid in his right shoulder. The setback required what is believed to be an unprecedented surgery for an NFL quarterback and came on the heels of Watson missing 11 games during the 2022 season because of a suspension stemming from more than two dozen women accusing him of sexual misconduct or sexual assault during massage appointments in his Houston Texans days.
Despite all of Watson's off-field baggage, the Browns sent six draft picks, including three in the first round, to the Texans for him. The Browns also gave him a five-year, $230 million guaranteed contract.
What does Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson's Achilles injury mean for his contract?
Another season-ending injury for Watson would not provide the Browns with any salary cap relief. His deal is fully guaranteed. He is owed a combined $92 million in 2025 and 2026, the final two years of the contract.
Watson has the league's second-largest 2025 salary cap number at $72.935 million, according to CBSSports.com , and the Browns' cap charges for him next year would rise by $99.835 million if they were to release him conventionally. Cutting Watson conventionally would also create $172.77 million in dead money. Even releasing him in 2025 through a post-June 1 designation would result in $118.935 million of dead money. He has a no-trade clause.
All of this means the Browns are essentially stuck with Watson's contract.
For the majority of Watson's Browns tenure, he has not come anywhere close to playing like the three-time Pro Bowl selection the Texans employed from 2017-21.
Entering Sunday's game, he had completed 61.3% of his passes this season for 1,020 yards and five touchdowns with three interceptions. He had posted a passer rating of 76.6 and taken a league-high 31 sacks. He did not reach 200 yards passing in any of the first six games. The Browns failed to score 20 points in any game during the same span.
When Watson exited the action against the Bengals , he had gone 15-of-17 passing for 128 yards without a touchdown or an interception. He had produced a passer rating of 98 and absorbed two sacks.
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After Watson was knocked out for the season last November, the Browns signed former Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl-winning quarterback Flacco off the street. He led them to the playoffs with a four-game winning streak in December.
However, the Browns defied logic by letting Flacco walk in free agency, and he signed with the Indianapolis Colts in March. Although the Browns have never publicly admitted this, it's pretty obvious why they didn't retain Flacco. The franchise went all in with Watson and didn't want him looking over his surgically repaired throwing shoulder because of Flacco's presence.
The thought of Browns fans clamoring for Flacco to supplant Watson, 29, could not have been appealing to the organization's bigwigs. The thought of players in the Browns locker room favoring Flacco could have given executives in the front office chills.
By the way, Flacco has appeared in three Colts games this season and started twice. He has completed 65.7% of his passes for 716 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception. His passer rating is 102.2.
With Deshaun Watson injured, what is the Cleveland Browns quarterback depth chart? Why didn't the Browns re-sign Joe Flacco?
The Browns tried to sell everyone on their decision to sign Jameis Winston this past offseason as Watson's new primary backup. But, on Sunday, Winston was officially demoted to third on the QB depth chart as second-year pro Dorian Thompson-Robinson ascended to No. 2.
After Watson crumbled to the ground because of his noncontact injury, DTR entered the game with the Browns trailing 7-0. The QB chaos didn't end there, though. DTR left the field late in the game with an injured finger on his throwing hand, and Winston replaced him with 3:43 remaining in the fourth quarter.
If Watson is done for the season, as expected, the Browns are going to have six and a half games in 2024, six games in 2023 and six games in 2022 of the Watson experience. Overall, it has been dreadful.
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Yet, Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, General Manager Andrew Berry, chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta and Stefanski will likely claim they need to see more of Watson in a Browns uniform. They will probably insist Watson's sample size in Cleveland is too small to know whether trading for him backfired to a historic degree. They may point to issues with the offensive line and receiving corps in attempts to strengthen arguments about continuing the Watson experiment.
Still, no one who's being honest can deny the Browns entered the weekend with a dysfunctional offense and a record of 1-5. Now they're 1-6 after falling to the 3-4 Bengals.
Fans booed Watson when he ran out of the tunnel during pregame player introductions. Some of them cheered when Watson was injured, drawing the ire of other Browns players . Many fans are undoubtedly thrilled DTR took control of the offense late in the first half and Winston late in the fourth quarter. But those same fans also ought to realize if Watson comes back from his latest injury and plays in the NFL again, it will almost certainly happen with the Browns.
Another major curveball hit the Browns in the face Sunday, and Flacco isn't here to save a franchise lost in the quarterback wilderness again.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns hit with Deshaun Watson injury again. Joe Flacco is not here to save them | Ulrich
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