Deshaun Watson is the new quarterback of the Cleveland Browns and while he’s been successful in the past, he’ll never escape these roadblocks
Becoming the next Cleveland Browns quarterback will always be difficult for the latest contestant no matter the previous back story. We’ve had more than our share of quarterbacks roll through this town and that trend will likely continue into the foreseeable future. However, the team’s latest starter, Deshaun Watson, would like that to certainly not be the case.
Watson joined the Browns with a horrid back story and returned to the field for the past two games after serving his 11-game. He also missed all of 2021, so he hadn’t played in a game in almost two seasons — and it shows. Watson has been known to be able to dance around in the offensive backfield and escape the defenders many times over. That ability to do that is special and is part of the reason why the Browns brought him to Cleveland.
The problem though for Watson and for that matter, the organization, is that they won’t be able to escape several hard-core attitudes and strong beliefs by the fan base that have already started to shape Watson’s time as a Brown. Let’s take a look at three of those roadblocks that will be hard to maneuver. They may not be fair assessments of the new guy but they’re where we stand today in the chatter around the water coolers.
No. 3 roadblock for Deshaun Watson – The $230 million dollar man
The price tag for Watson, guaranteeing him $230 million, hasn’t sat well. Not only is that a major cost, but the team has given up its next three years of first-round picks as well when they traded for him from the Houston Texans. Certainly, the organization planned for this dissatisfaction and is okay with the daily reminders in social media spheres when things aren’t always going smoothly. Still, this grand number of $230 million will never escape Watson’s time here.
With every incomplete pass or interception, as we’ve seen in his first two games, there will be that daily reminder that they spent $230 million on this guy. It’s easy to do as fans to be critical of your favorite team, and in this case for Cleveland fans, it only gives them more opportunity to throw salt into the wound when things look bleakest. Right now, in a season that has been lost before it started, there hasn’t been much joy in “Browns Town”.
While Watson may be able to ignore the number that he’s valued at and play through the ups and downs of this transition period, there will be many that won’t let it rest and will remind him that they mortgaged a huge part of their franchise for him. If he can’t produce victories for Cleveland, then this whole experiment will be deemed a failure.
Winning can mask many problems and the Browns will try to get back those ways but it’ll be a tall task to achieve, especially with the way things have started here recently with Watson under center.
No. 2 roadblock for Deshaun Watson – The Baker Mayfield comparisons
This next roadblock for Watson might not the most difficult for him to get by at the moment but it’s still a hot topic amongst fans. Baker Mayfield, the former starting quarterback in Cleveland came to this franchise in 2018 after being drafted No. 1 out of Oklahoma. At the time, the was considered a surprise by most. A lot of pressure was put on the shoulders of Mayfield to produce and help bring this team out of a two-decade funk where losing was contagious.
In the two previous seasons, Cleveland only won one game total, so when Mayfield entered for the first time in 2018 in a Week 3 contest against the New York Jets and led a comeback win, it was a monumental moment. When they made a playoff run in 2020 with Mayfield under center, it only magnified his mysticism.
The former Heisman Trophy winner has played his whole career with a chip on his shoulder, so the fact that Mayfield was now guiding a football franchise in a community that was known for its hard-nosed approach to life the two seemed to mesh well. But that connection seemed to take a major hit after Mayfield became injured at the start of the 2021 season and fell out of favor with fans and the local media as he often acted standoffish.
The Browns’ leadership then made an abrupt decision after the season finished in announcing they had made a trade for Watson. This was while the once very popular Mayfield was still on the roster. By July, Mayfield was finally traded to the Carolina Panthers. These moves divided a fan base that was already on edge.
Fast forward to this past week, and after Mayfield was surprisingly released by the Panthers, he was picked up by the Los Angeles Rams. Last year’s Super Bowl victors, who are struggling mightily this season with a 4-9 record would then push Mayfield out into the spotlight in a Thursday Night Football game. With less than two days to learn the new playbook, Mayfield helped lead his new team to a miracle win in the closing seconds.
That type of crazy story only magnified how things have changed so much for the Browns in less than a year and made the Watson trade seem more significant. Maybe Mayfield wouldn’t have had any more success here in Cleveland if he wasn’t traded but for a large group of the fan base, it will be something that will be questioned for years to come.
With four years left on Watson’s contract with the Browns, winning will need to happen to help put to rest the “what if” questions that have persisted since Mayfield left town.
No. 1 roadblock for Deshaun Watson – Super Bowl or bust
The Browns have never been in a Super Bowl and Watson was brought in to change that. The franchise has tried with too many other quarterbacks with no luck. They’ve now invested a boatload of money in one player that they hope can change the course of history.
The odds are pretty low that this can be accomplished to begin with and that’s why most people are frustrated with the rash decision by the franchise to try their luck on a player that was going to miss so much time. So now we have the next four seasons to see if Watson can get this team to that elusive Super Bowl. The pressure will build every year and that’s not been a good mix, because when you put pressure on any Browns team, they tend to fold.
There could be coaching changes along the way as well and that will only make the countdown even more pressing. There will also be unforeseen issues that arise along the way and that will also make that ticking clock louder. Injuries to players or even Watson for that matter could put a major kink into the Browns’ plans
Many fans who agreed with the acquisition of Watson continue to count on next season as the year to see real change. There’s that expectation that the team will play better, but we have nothing that supports those expectations yet. The last season Watson was a starting quarterback in 2020 with the Texans the team went 4-12. So, the idea that he’s going to come into Cleveland and roll to a Super Bowl is not a realistic one.
If Watson can manage to lead this team to that Super Bowl in the future, then the chatter we hear today will fade away into the cold night’s air. Here’s hoping that’s the case and Browns fans can celebrate a championship.
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