Deshaun

Watson

That doesn’t mean, of course, that Watson will be ready to step in and start games for the Browns in December. But being cleared for football activities means he’s inching closer to a return after tearing his Achilles tendon twice over the past year. Watson, 30, has 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions for the Browns over his three seasons with the team. It would be something of a surprise if the Browns gave him a start in the final month of the regular season. Dillon Gabriel remains the team’s starter for now.

Watson will not be able to play in the first four games of the 2025 season. He’s expected to miss significantly more time than that with his torn Achilles, and there’s no guarantee he’ll get his starting quarterback gig back after his atrocious play in 2024. And 2023.

Watson tore his Achilles in Week 7 last season and ruptured it again in January. The Browns have four quarterbacks on the depth chart to replace his disappointing output from the past few seasons. He will now start the season on the PUP list and is expected to be out for most, if not all, of the 2025 season. DT Mike Hall Jr. will also be placed on the active/PUP list while WR David Bell will hit the active/non-football injury list.

Cabot believes that it remains “an enormous longshot” for Watson to land on the active roster this season, but she can see a world where Watson could conceivably be activated from injured reserve in November or December. Frankly, the last thing the Browns quarterback situation needs is one more Watson-sized wrench in it this year. We expect the Browns to leave him on injured reserve, but it sounds like he’ll be healthy in 2026, at which time he could conceivably find a new situation.

Watson has reportedly been out of his walking boot for weeks and has progressed to throwing indoors at the team facility to both Jerry Jeudy and David Bell. Cabot adds that Jeudy is participating in voluntary team workouts while Bell is working his way back from surgery to repair a dislocated hip. Watson appears to be on the outside looking in with respect to the starting quarterback job in Cleveland after the team added Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and a pair of rookies in Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders this offseason, meaning he could be auditioning for others teams in need of a gamble at the position.

“We thought we had the quarterback, we didn’t and we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him. So we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole. (It) was an entire organization decision and it ends with Dee and I, so hold us accountable,” Haslam continued. How we’re supposed to be holding an NFL owner accountable aside, we’ve heard all offseason that the Browns would likely never let Watson play another meaningful snap. The owner talking about Watson in the past tense is truly confirmation that this is over. Cleveland would roll out Kenny Pickett as their starter if the season started tomorrow, but thankfully for them, it doesn’t.

It’s the second time the Browns have restructured Watson’s deal since December. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Browns will owe Watson a minimum salary in 2025 and $46 million in 2026, which would satisfy the remaining money on his deal. Watson ruptured his Achilles in Week 7 of last season and ruptured it again in January while rehabbing. It seems increasingly unlikely that Watson will ever play again for the Browns after a disastrous first three seasons, as the team appears more than ready to move on from him.

Watson re-tore his Achilles in January and is expected to miss “significant time” next season. What Watson was doing at the time of his injury was of interest to the Browns, as anything outside the scope of his rehab and recovery may have created an out for them when it comes to the remaining money on his contract. Watson is owed $92 million in guaranteed money over the next two seasons. There’s a very real chance he never plays another snap for the Browns again.

“How far that spans into 2025, I can’t give you a specific right now,” Berry continued, essentially refusing to speculate on Watson’s prospects of playing this coming season. The Browns are probably going to add multiple quarterbacks this offseason and leave Watson in the rear-view mirror. We’d be surprised if he plays a meaningful down for the organization again, as Browns Athletic beat writer Zac Jackson mentioned that as a possibility in January. It’s unlikely Watson would have a clear path back to the Browns starting lineup even if he was cleared from his second Achilles rupture sooner than expected.

The Browns could certainly make things contentious if they choose to here. Watson’s contract is fully guaranteed, and without the fully-guaranteed deal, there’s not much reason he needs to be on the roster at this point with little chance of playing in 2025 and almost no investment in the idea that he’s still a starting-caliber quarterback. Watson has $92 million in guaranteed money due to him over the next two years. Both sides moving on feels inevitable, it’s just a question of how long it takes to get there.