The Cleveland Browns will continue disappointing their long-suffering fans until they find a quarterback to take over from Deshaun Watson. The Browns have invested substantially in Watson, but he brings more trouble than he is worth.
The odds on the Cleveland Browns Browns to win the Super Bowl (72.24) and the AFC Conference (32.80) reflect how far off the top they are.
News broke this month that Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson had been sued for sexual assault and battery – his 27th civil lawsuit over alleged sexual misconduct.
23 of them have been resolved with undisclosed settlements and Watson has not been found guilty in a court of law at this point. Still, the Browns – who signed a four-year $240 million contract with the Browns ($231 million guaranteed) – have certainly faced more trouble since taking a gamble on a player who was already facing serious off-field allegations when he signed than his performances have paid back in value.
Watson has only played 15 games in three seasons for the Browns, having struggled with injury problems and even sat out an 11-match suspension in his first season with his current team over the initial set of allegations he faced for his conduct during his spell at his previous side, the Houston Texans.
Even when he has played, Watson has looked a shadow of his former self. If that was not evident before, then it certainly has been since he returned to the team this season after Joe Flacco led the team into the playoffs last year while Watson was out with a shoulder injury.
With Flacco at quarterback, Brown’s offense suddenly began to shine, with David Njoku, in particular, playing out of his skin after struggling to deliver earlier in the season.
In the Browns’ 33-17 week 1 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys, Njoku had clearly regressed and was underwhelming, as he had been early last season.
Watson, as the leader of the team, is responsible for upping the standards of those around him. That, he clearly failed to do in the Cowboys’ defeat. His own stats were abysmal, too, with 24/45 completed passes, one touchdown and two interceptions.
The Browns bounced back with an 18-13 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2, but that alone was far from enough to redeem Watson’s case to remain as the starting quarterback for the Browns. He threw for 186 yards with 22 out of 34 passes completed and one rushing touchdown across five carries. In their third match of the season, the Browns were beaten 21-15 by the New York Giants – another struggling team as Watson threw an underwhelming 21/37 for 196 yards.
The Browns have backup quarterback Jameis Winston waiting in the wings to take over. He is far from the Super Bowl-winning franchise player they envisioned when they invested all that money into Watson, but he deserves a chance to lead the offence, too, in order to determine if he can take them further than Watson for the time being.
Until the Browns have a long-term solution to the Watson problem after arguably one of the worst investments on a single athlete in sporting history, they will not be in the running for a Super Bowl.
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