As if the Cleveland Browns' season couldn't get any more torturous, there's still a huge elephant in the room for the team's front office headed into 2025 - Deshaun Watson's albatross of a contract. With a draft lingering ahead for the team and still seven games left to play, there's a question of who will even be starting at the quarterback position for the Browns next year.
They have a few options right now outside of the draft - they can just ride it out with Jameis Winston and see where he takes them as they wait for Watson's contract to no longer impact their cap space, or they can give Watson the keys just one more time to prove that he can, in fact, be the franchise quarterback for Cleveland.
Read more: It sure sounds like the Deshaun Watson contract will haunt the Browns for years
They also still have Dorian Thompson-Robinson in the wings, but it's unclear whether the team is open to developing him further given the fact that he's yet to break out and appear like the better option than Winston at any point this season. So, at this juncture, it feels like either Winston or Watson have to emerge as obvious QB1s or end up getting benched.
Another option? Trusting a young rookie quarterback and taking your loss, according to NFL insider Albert Breer, might be the right move for the Browns to make in 2025 and to set them up for cap space success beyond next season.
"The Cleveland Browns owe Deshaun Watson $46 million in 2025 and $46 million in ’26—and every dime is fully guaranteed. There’s $172.77 million in cap charges left to account for, which means they’ve only reckoned with 24.9% of the contract’s $230 million against the cap, despite being 60% of the way through the contract," Breer explained in a column for Sports Illustrated a day before the Browns' Week 12 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The cap math is infuriating if you're a Browns fan. Despite barely any real impact on winning, and with oodles of injuries that have made it impossible to even see what Watson can amount to with this team, the fact that Cleveland is still locked in to pay out over 75 percent of his contract against their cap is absurd and terrible management from this front office.
Breer does add, though, that a simple solution to that issue is just not allowing Watson to come back next season with a guaranteed starting role.
"My guess is he has real competition for the job next year, maybe with a rookie quarterback. I think the Browns are done tiptoeing around their quarterback situation. One reason why Joe Flacco was out and Jameis Winston came in as Watson’s backup was that Cleveland wanted to give Watson clarity that he was their guy going forward. I’d imagine those sorts of concessions won’t be made anymore," said Breer.
While there aren't any day one starters in this quarterback class, maybe the Browns look at free agency as a way to continue to bridge the gap between Watson and a raw rookie QB if they're unable to re-sign Winston. One thing is for certain - Watson has lost the right to demand anything from this coaching staff or the front office. And, the front office simply has to start learning how to eat crow on this horrendous deal.