It’s not clear if the Browns privately admit that trading for quarterback Deshaun Watson and giving him a five-year fully guaranteed contract was a mistake. Publicly, they haven’t acknowledged it, and it seems unlikely they ever will.
During his Wednesday press conference, General Manager Andrew Berry was asked if he still thinks the trade was a good decision.
“I’m really not in reflection mode,” Berry replied. “[I]t’s not really my focus at this point in the year. Our focus is really on finishing out the 2024 season, having the team play at a higher level, and then kind of we’ll get to those maybe longer term or big picture reflections at a later point in time.”
That’s the closest anyone from the Browns has come to admitting what everyone already knows: the trade and the contract have been a disaster.
Berry was also asked if he came up with the idea to trade for Watson or if it came from someone higher up in the organization.
“[L]ike we’ve always said, all of us were on board,” Berry said. “Everyone’s on board and obviously with a big commitment in that regard, that’s always going to be the case.”
He didn’t really answer the question. And while success is often credited to many people, failure tends to have no one to claim it, someone in the organization must have first decided that it was a good idea to go after Watson and then offer him a deal he couldn’t turn down after he initially said he wasn’t interested. Does anyone believe those decisions didn’t come from owner Jimmy Haslam?
The Browns are now stuck with a huge problem because of the Watson contract. They still owe him $92 million through 2026. The salary cap charges are enormous — $72 million in 2025, $72 million in 2026, and $26.9 million in 2027 (after the contract ends).
It’s still possible Watson could return as the starting quarterback next year. Even though the fans don’t want that, Berry made it clear that their opinions don’t matter.
“So, first and foremost, we love our fans,” Berry said. “We know that they’re passionate and they love the team. As we make decisions organizationally, it’ll always be within what we think is within the best interest of the franchise. And some of those will be popular, some of those will be unpopular. But that’s really the way that we’ll navigate it.”
The reality is that when you’re in an industry that depends on fan involvement, loyalty, and money, the popularity of decisions should be considered.
What happens if fans stop showing up to home games because Watson is still the quarterback? What if they start protesting or organizing rallies to push the team to get rid of Watson, or at least stop playing him? What if they stop watching the games on TV?
It’s OK to admit when a mistake has been made. Failing to do so only makes things worse.
As I mentioned recently on PFT Live, the Browns are like someone who comes out of the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to the bottom of their shoe. Everyone can see it. They know it’s there. But pride and ego keep them from doing anything about it.
Where does that come from? It’s likely rooted in the same person who made the initial decision to trade for Watson and offer him $230 million in fully guaranteed money over five years to make that decision happen.
