By now, everyone is aware of the fact that the Cleveland Browns' decision to trade for and subsequently sign Deshaun Watson to a fully guaranteed contract was a mistake. But just how bad was it? Well, bad enough that it made an appearance as one of the worst quarterback contracts signed over the last decade.
Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon compiled a list of the worst quarterback contracts from the last 10 years, and occupying the top spot on that list are the Browns and Watson. With the five-year $230 million contract signed in 2022, all of which was fully guaranteed, it is hard to argue with this placement on the list.
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Gagnon would go on to say, "Watson has been a trainwreck for pretty much his entire run thus far with the Browns. By the time he finishes up this season on injured reserve, he will have started just 19 games while posting a losing record and a horrible 80.7 passer rating in three years as a Brown.". This is a pretty harsh reality that quite a few still seem hesitant to admit. Watson has been a complete disaster in Cleveland, and three years into this experiment, it does not seem like it ever has a chance of turning around.
Well, it does seem like the two sides are heading for a divorce, why will this haunt Cleveland?
It's simple, really. Not only does this contract still have a long shelf life for ending up on lists such as this one, but as Gagnon also pointed out, "This has undoubtedly become the holy grail for bad contracts.". When words like holy grail are being used, that is when you know it's bad. That is a distinction that is not thrown around lightly, and when it is used to describe something, it is best to pay attention.
There is another layer to this as well. For the longest time, the Herschel Walker trade has served as the worst transaction in NFL history, but this has overtaken that trade's position as the worst of all time. From the amount of draft capital used to acquire Watson from Houston to the record-beating financial commitment, and finally, the abrupt closing of Cleveland's contention window, it is hard to argue against this trade and contract being the worst in NFL history.
It may take a little time to catch on and be used as "The Example", but it should not be too long before Watson to the Browns is the new standard for all-time bad trades.
From NFL lore to actual impact on the franchise
It is possible for a team to overcome being frequently named as part of one of the worst roster moves of all time, but it is not as easy to escape the financial ramifications that this will have which leave everyone wondering what could have been.
Thanks to the continued overuse of void years by Cleveland's "brain trust", the Browns are going to be on the hook for competitive timeline-altering money. Barring a post-June-1st trade, there is no escaping the negative impact on Cleveland's books, and who in the right mind would want to trade for the current version of Deshaun Watson? The answer is no one.
With the dead money and cap hits coming from Watson's contract, it will make it incredibly difficult to retain key members of this team and improve in areas that need it. The Browns are in a spot that will require some clever financial maneuvering to get out from under this albatross of a contract, and even then, the stigma of their decision to acquire Watson will linger for years to come. There is no light at the end of this tunnel, and it will take an incredibly long time for one to show up. This trade and contract have sunk this franchise for the foreseeable future, and there is no immediate way out.