When Deshaun Watson starts his sixth consecutive game of the 2026 season this Sunday, the Cleveland Browns (and their fans) will be 144 days away from a major decision.
At this time last year, no one was entertaining the idea of Watson signing a contract extension with Cleveland. Barely anyone was entertaining the idea of him playing meaningful snaps for the Browns again.
But with Cleveland sitting at 3-2 entering a big AFC North matchup with Baltimore (4-1) this week, the Watson narrative has flipped. The idea of a second contract can no longer be completely ignored after Watson led a trio of fourth-quarter comebacks over the first month of the regular season.
Based on the latest buzz from ESPN insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano, that still feels like a legitimate long shot as of mid-October.
Latest insider buzz suggests Deshaun Watson is playing for his Browns future
Fowler and Graziano agreed that Watson has earned a longer leash than expected as Cleveland's starter this year, but neither seemed all that confident that he could stick with the Browns past 2026.
Browns head coach Todd Monken has insisted that the players decide who plays, not the coaches and certainly not a spreadsheet with each player’s 2026 salary. Fowler said the quiet part out loud, though, on how the NFL world may view the Browns’ current situation.
“For as maligned as his tenure with Cleveland has been, some NFL teams believe it's bad business to pay a player $46 million not to play,” Fowler said. “So, my sense is Watson will get more time to prove himself.”
For the record, Shedeur Sanders will earn a little more than $1 million this year on his fifth-round rookie contract and is signed through 2028.
Graziano added that, based on what he’s hearing, it would be “stunning” if Watson remained in Cleveland’s plans past 2026.
“The Browns are 3-2 and owe it to themselves and their fans to continue to play the quarterback they believe gives them the best chance to win,” he wrote. “Right now, they believe that's Watson, which is why I also expect he'll keep the job until he gets hurt, he starts to play poorly or Cleveland tumbles out of contention. It would be stunning if the Browns' 2027 starter is someone on the current roster, but you can't always forecast what this franchise is going to do.”
A Deshaun Watson extension still doesn't make much sense for the Browns
Browns salary cap guru Jack Duffin of Orange and Brown Report recently wrote about a potential Watson extension and what it could look like from a cash and cap perspective. Duffin crafted the mock extension around a one-year deal worth $7 million, which he considers the going rate for a bridge quarterback.
In that hypothetical, though, Watson’s camp would have to accept a massive pay cut before hitting the open market at the start of the 2027 league year. The Browns would also have to carry a 2027 cap hit of around $38 million for a player only earning $7 million, while pushing another $58.1 million of dead money into future years.
It’s not undoable, as the cap continues to rise annually and Cleveland will have added flexibility in 2028 and 2029 thanks to its young roster. But it’s certainly not all that feasible, either, at least not yet. Watson has played OK in stretches, but not well enough to justify prolonging the circus another year.
The most likely outcome remains the one that’s been planned since December 2024, which is Watson being released next March with a post-June 1 designation.
While the conversation will continue to ebb and flow, one insider would be stunned if Watson sticks around. Another referred to his current contract as potential motivation to keep him installed as the starter.
None of the above paints a serious picture of the Watson experience continuing past 2026.
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