Cleveland’s got a quarterback problem — and they may be getting closer to admitting it. Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Browns general manager Andrew Berry was noncommittal on Deshaun Watson’s future, saying, “It’s always possible” he will play for the franchise again. That’s a far stretch from the steadfast commitment the team has maintained throughout his tenure of mediocre play and off-field controversies that have included accusations of sexual assault.
Considering that there are at least two years remaining on Watson’s contract and that the Achilles injury the signal caller suffered in Week 7 is believed to be season-ending — not career-ending — the GM’s comments don’t exactly inspire confidence. “Really our focus with Deshaun, I would say for any player with a season-ending injury and a major injury, is first and foremost to make sure that he gets healthy,” Berry said. “Everything else, we’ll deal with at a later moment.
” “Everything else” is shorthand for the many questions that surround Watson after a disastrous first half of the 2024 season. After a promising 2023 campaign in which the franchise finished with a record of 11-6 (2020 being the only other season since 1994 when they’d finished with more than ten wins), the Browns have only two victories through the first nine weeks of 2024. While Watson had his moments in 2023, it was veteran Joe Flacco who spearheaded the team’s second-half run to the playoffs after Watso.
