Both cheers and jeers to Deshaun Watson reportedly becoming a Brown

The Cleveland Browns pull off a major miracle and somehow steal Deshaun Watson out from under the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons.

After being told Thursday morning that they were out of the running, there are now reports that the Cleveland Browns will be the winner in the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes.

Initially, there was fear that he would choose his hometown of Atlanta or want to stay in the south where he has always played. There was never a doubt that Browns had the best roster of the four teams vying for his services, but they always seemed like a long shot due to Watson’s desire to stay in the south.

Cleveland will be giving up a total of five draft picks with three of them being first-round selections. For a team accustomed to picking in the top-10, this will be an interesting change. They will also end up paying Watson a massive amount of money to take over under center.

Early reports are that Watson will also receive a raise in a fully-guaranteed $230 million, five-year deal. There’s no doubt that Andrew Berry is all in on this team, and the motto is to certainly win now and Watson will help them do just that.

The two questions that remain are, how will this hinder the remainder of free agency spending? And what now happens to Baker Mayfield?

How will Cleveland fans greet Deshaun Watson?

The other big question will be how is Deshaun Watson received in Cleveland?

There is no doubt that he is an elite player, but the off-the-field baggage is a struggle for some. There’s no doubt that winning will cure a lot of those concerns, but it’s still something to consider — and the Browns will take a PR hit for this one, with many fans potentially bolting altogether.

When you purely look at this roster, this is a great move, but there are a lot of moving parts that make this a riskier decision than any of us expected from this front office.