3 Biggest offseason needs for the Cleveland Browns

No. 1: Get Deshaun Watson More Comfortable in the Offense and Get Him Another Receiver

There are a ton of Browns fans out there on the app with feathers that thought the six games Deshaun Watson played this season would have the team in Super Bowl contention. Now, many of those same fans are questioning whether or not the team made the right decision to give up three first-round picks and give Watson the highest guaranteed contract in the history of the league.

First off, when the trade was made, it was never about this season, but 2023 and beyond. The team knew the suspension was imminent, just without the knowledge of how many games it would be. When it went from six games to 11, the season was practically over. When Watson took the field in Week 13 for the first time as a Cleveland Brown, it marked his first start in 700 (!) days. That’s a lot of time to be missing from NFL game speed.

The final six games, in which the Browns went 3-3, were all about getting Watson some much-needed reps in a new offense in actual games. It was a glorified preseason to get Watson acclimated to his teammates and head coach. He showed flashes of the player he was back in 2020, but he also showed a ton of rust, which was always going to be the case.

This offseason, Stefanski must get Watson comfortable in this offense if this team wants to compete in 2023. He has all the talent in the world and we have seen Stefanski have success with much lesser of quarterbacks in Baker Mayfield and Jacoby Brissett. The duo will have an entire offseason to work out the kinks with (hopefully) no off-the-field issues weighing down everything.

One way that Berry can help matters is if he goes out and gets another wide receiver weapon for Watson to throw to. In 2023, the only two wideouts to catch touchdown passes, from either Watson or Brissett, were Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones. That needs to be fixed during the offseason.

One name that could be a potential target is Brandin Cooks, who played with Watson in Houston and saw great success. Cooks said he doesn’t want to be part of a rebuild in Houston, so that is an avenue Berry can explore. Another option could be Cardinals wideout, DeAndre Hopkins, as Arizona is going through a rebuild of their own, after firing head coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim deciding to step down.

The Browns could have another third-round pick at their disposal to trade if assistant GM Glenn Cook gets hired by another team this offseason. The Tennessee Titans requested permission to interview him on Monday.

This will be another long offseason that the Browns must get right to be in contention in 2023. Monday was a good start, now it’s all about executing off the field prior to executing on the field.