Deshaun Watson longed for Sunday's postgame moment, and he earned it. Who knows where this Cleveland Browns season is headed, but the video shared by Cleveland 9 News reporter Ashley Holder, showing Watson jogging off the field with both arms raised to roaring fans, signifies a clear turning point.
At least for the time being, we’re done with the quarterback battle talk. We’re done with Browns fans booing Watson simply for existing.
This is Watson’s team for the 2026 season, and the embrace between Watson and GM Andrew Berry outside the locker room at the end of Holder’s video spoke volumes.
Cheers for Deshaun Watson as he comes off the field after leading the #Browns to a win over the #Panthers. GM Andrew Berry is waiting at the door to give his QB some love. pic.twitter.com/UcBPP2FGU4
— Ashly Holder (@AshNoelleTV) September 27, 2026
On Tuesday, Watson was asked about his relationship with Berry, whose moves over the past two offseasons kept the runway open for this current situation to play out. Cleveland never used a real draft pick on a quarterback. It never made a major trade.
And now Watson is very much back.
“Yeah, man, AB always been right there,” Watson said of Berry. “He’s always communicated with me throughout the whole process, whatever was going on, what we’re doing in the QB room, what we’re doing coaching-wise, everything. So, he’s always communicated. We got a great relationship, and we just continue to build from that. We built that trust and that honesty where we can just talk to each other, and we just hope that we can continue to build that and win a lot of games together.”
Andrew Berry never stopped communicating with Deshaun Watson when the Browns' QB situation got messy
Watson isn’t only tight with Berry. The broadcast showed him embracing executive vice president JW Johnson on the sideline after Cleveland clinched its Week 2 road win at Tampa Bay. He’s also proving to be a strong pairing for head coach Todd Monken.
The quiet part about Watson’s situation is that the loudest noise has come from outside the building.
Aside from owner Jimmy Haslam calling the Watson trade and contract “a big swing and a miss” last spring — comments he has walked back numerous times since — the vitriol over Watson remaining the starter over Shedeur Sanders this season came from fans and media. Watson appears well entrenched and respected by his teammates, coaches, and team executives.
Watson spoke about Berry’s openness as being the staple in their relationship, and it’s easy to speculate on how those conversations went following Watson’s first Achilles injury in 2024. The two sides mutually reworked his contract that December, putting him on a path to potentially play again for the franchise. But the exit plan has always been March 2027, by the second day of that new league year, when Watson will be designated as a post-June 1 release for unavoidable salary cap reasons.
That’s where the “win a lot of games together” piece rings hollow. Unless we’re living in an alternate universe where Watson competes for league MVP, the Browns aren’t committing the massive signing bonuses it would require to extend Watson’s contract next offseason. Especially not with two 2027 first-round picks in their grasp.
But they also never bailed on Watson, even after he re-tore his Achilles in January 2025. Berry added short-term veterans like Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco. The only draft picks Cleveland has used on quarterbacks since then have been third-, fifth-, and sixth-rounders.
The Browns’ front office has always had Watson’s back. The shot of Berry and Watson walking into the locker room with their arms around each other on Sunday was just the visual evidence.
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