The Cleveland Browns don't have a lot of pathways out of the muck in which the franchise has mired itself by way of the Deshaun Watson contract.
Cleveland gave the controversial quarterback $230 million in fully guaranteed money over five years ahead of the 2022 campaign. He has given them 19 games played, nine wins and public relations headaches across three seasons marred by two major injuries and one 11-game suspension handed down by the NFL.
The Watson experience -- which also cost the Browns three first-round picks, a third-round selection and two fourth-rounders -- is over from an on-field perspective, as most national analysts don't expect he will ever start/play QB for Cleveland again.
Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.
© Scott Galvin-Imagn Images
However, the team still owes him $46 million in salary in each of the next two seasons and faces salary cap hits of $73 million in each of those campaigns due to multiple contract restructures.
Climbing out of the problem appears nearly impossible with the roster as expensive as it already is around Watson, though climbing down may be a reasonable solution.
Reigning Defensive Player of the Year and star edge rusher Myles Garrett has made clear to the team that the time has come for him to win or move on. But the best way for the Browns to win soon may be to lose right away.
That could, and probably would, involve accepting poor quarterback play in 2025 and dealing Garrett for a huge return that the team could then use to chase a franchise quarterback like Arch Manning of Texas in the 2026 draft.
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning.
Brett Davis-Imagn Images
"How exactly do the Browns get to Arch Manning? By ignoring the quarterback position this offseason and filling their other needs, of which there are many. Tank for a year and start to wade through a chunk of the $170 million still owed Watson on their future cap sheets," Jason Lloyd of The Athletic wrote on Saturday, Dec. 21. "For as incredible of a talent as Garrett is, the one thing he is not is a quarterback. But he could provide the currency necessary for the Browns to take their next big swing."
Dealing Garrett while in his prime would be a major blow to the organization, but it would come with enough draft capital to set the team up for a semi-rebuild in just one season.
And regardless of how bad things might get in 2025 without Garrett around, no mistake is likely to ever measure up to the colossal blunder that has been the Watson tenure in Cleveland. The team must fix that error, and doing so was never going to be painless.
