It’s also been a tumultuous season for Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns.
The former Houston Texans superstar has struggled for the last-place Browns, who dropped to 1-6 after making it to the playoffs in 2023, thanks to Joe Flacco and his good play.
The 29-year-old Watson is ranked 31st for adjusted total QB ratings of statistically qualified players, and it won’t get any better after he suffered a right Achilles injury during a noncontact play in Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The extent of the injury and for how long it will keep Watson off the field aren’t known, but it does bring Deshaun Watson’s contract situation into focus.
According to Kalyn Kahler of ESPN, approximately 50% of the league’s 32 teams have insurance on their most expensive contracts.
It’s usually the teams that get absolutely steamrolled into overpaying a player [that buy insurance], and so it’s like [the front-office’s] saving grace to try to present it to ownership. It’s like, “We’ll get your money back if he gets hurt.”
— Ex-salary cap executive via ESPN
The Cleveland Browns made history when they acquired Deshaun Watson prior to the 2022 season. Not only did the team trade three first-round picks to add the quarterback, but they also signed him to an unprecedented, fully guaranteed five-year contract for $230 million.
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Now, they are expected to receive millions because he may be out for the rest of the year.
The Browns received $4.1 million in end-of-year cap adjustments for 2024 because Deshaun Watson missed 11 games last year, and now they may receive even more as he is expected to miss the remaining ten games this year.
Deshaun Watson Still Dealing With Issues Off The Field
Now that Deshaun Watson is likely done for the year, he can focus on another woman accusing him of sexually assaulting her.
Last month, the Cleveland Browns quarterback was accused of a 2020 sexual assault in a lawsuit filed in Texas.
The woman, referred to as “Jane Doe,” alleges that an extremely disturbing encounter with Watson occurred at her home in October 2020.
Deshaun Watson agreed to meet at her apartment, but by the time he finally got there, he was already enraged with having trouble finding her.
When Watson finally arrived, Doe claimed she was not ready as she “had not finished putting on her makeup.”
She tried speaking to him from the bathroom, but he got quiet.
Doe says she thought Watson might have left, so she left the bathroom and allegedly “found him completely naked on her bed, lying face down on his stomach.”
Doe then claims Watson “turned his head and aggressively insisted that she massage him, gesturing to his buttocks.”
His prior lawsuits were settled out of court. The NFL penalized Watson with an 11-game suspension ahead of the 2022 season.
