General manager Andrew Berry and the Cleveland Browns have been lauded for their work this offseason. Between the early waves of free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft, the Browns look a lot better on paper entering June than they did when the 2025 regular season ended in January.
Per FanSided’s Cody Williams, it was an “A” offseason on balance outside of the one confounding move the Browns didn’t make.
Cleveland successfully patched up and reinforced its offensive line while adding some premium talent to the skill positions. It mostly ignored the quarterback position, though, outside of taking a sixth-round flyer on tantalizing Arkansas product Taylen Green.
Unless Shedeur Sanders surprises with a dominant training camp while learning Todd Monken’s system, the Browns could find themselves going back to Deshaun Watson and his $46 million fully-guaranteed base salary as their Week 1 starter this fall.
In Williams’ eyes, that one decision stands as the only real nitpick for Berry and the Browns this offseason — but it’s a potentially costly one.
“There was no realistic combination of moves this offseason that would take the Cleveland Browns from being as bad as they were, particularly on offense, last year to a playoff contender. Having said that, the Browns are in position to think about their future at quarterback, hence why it's troubling to see them mulling giving Deshaun Watson the QB1 job again. However, one thing that's certain is that the roster's infrastructure has been drastically made better.”
The Browns’ decision to see things through with Deshaun Watson makes sense for all the wrong reasons
Browns fans are well aware of why Watson not only remains on the roster, but appears to have the inside track on being named Monken’s Week 1 starter. It has less to do with him being the best option, and everything to do with his complicated contract situation that’s left Cleveland in no-man’s land.
The dead money baked into Watson’s fully-guaranteed deal, due to past restructures for salary cap relief, essentially locks him onto Cleveland’s roster until the start of the 2027 league year. He has a no-trade clause, but a post-June 1 trade this summer wouldn’t help the Browns from a salary cap perspective anyway. The plan, since shortly after Watson’s first Achilles injury in 2024, has been to ride things out and designate Watson as a post-June 1 release in March of 2027, and that remains the most likely outcome whether or not he starts games for the Browns this season.
From a front office and ownership perspective, it’s understandably complicated. For the team to shut down a healthy Watson this season, owner Jimmy Haslam would have to sign off on paying $46 million for a player who’s not helping the team.
That money was essentially already spent when the Browns gave Watson $230 million in guarantees back in 2022, though, so the frustration among the fan base is warranted. There were options worth exploring this offseason, led by names like Malik Willis, Kyler Murray, and Tua Tagovailoa.
The Browns didn’t appear to make a serious attempt to add a veteran quarterback, and it could be the one oversight that ends up defining Year 1 of the Monken era.
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