CLEVELAND BROWNS CO-OWNER Jimmy Haslam was seated next to his wife and fellow owner, Dee Haslam, at an oval table in a conference room at the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, last week.
Surrounded by a group of local reporters attending the NFL's annual meetings, the Haslams spoke publicly for the first time since the Browns' 3-14 season, which landed them the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft. Jimmy Haslam lamented what he called a "disappointing" season while also expressing "high confidence" in the two men charged with making the franchise's most crucial decisions -- coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry.
But when pressed to defend the duo's track record, one playoff win in two postseason appearances over five seasons, Haslam pivoted to what he called the "elephant in the room": The team's momentous trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson.
"We took a big swing-and-miss with Deshaun," he said. "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.
"... [The trade] was an entire organization decision, and it ends with Dee and I, so hold us accountable."
Haslam's comments regarding the Watson trade last week were the first public acknowledgements from anyone in the organization that the transaction has failed. Three years after trading a trio of first-round picks to the Houston Texans and giving Watson an NFL-record five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract, Cleveland is searching for his replacement, which it could find in April's draft. The Browns are mulling the decision to take one of the top quarterbacks in the class -- a move that, if successful, could rescue them from the Watson trade, or return them to their decades-long search for an answer at the position; the franchise has cycled through 40 starting quarterbacks since its return to the NFL in 1999.
Watson, who has been one of the NFL's worst quarterbacks since joining the Browns, is rehabbing from a right Achilles tendon injury that cut his season short for a second straight year and could sideline him for the 2025 season. Speculation had risen about his future in Cleveland even before Haslam's candid admission at the league meetings. But his words cast further doubt whether Watson will play another down for the Browns, even as his bloated contract keeps him in Cleveland for at least one more season -- while executives and agents around the league expressed doubt to ESPN that the former Pro Bowl quarterback will get another opportunity in the NFL, even if healthy.
"The trade hasn't gone as we had hoped or anticipated," Berry said during his end-of-season news conference in January. "Hasn't gone how Deshaun has hoped or anticipated. I think certainly a big part of it is the stop-start with availability and that we never have gotten consistent performance at that position."
LITTLE HAS GONE right for the franchise or quarterback since the Browns' bold move for Watson, who was a three-time Pro Bowl selection with the Texans. Watson began his tenure in Cleveland serving an 11-game suspension in 2022 after more than two dozen women accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage sessions. Two Texas grand juries declined to pursue criminal charges, but Watson served his suspension after the NFL and the NFL Players Association reached a settlement on discipline -- this after he sat out the previous season following his trade request from the Texans.
When Watson returned for the final six games of the 2022 season -- after missing 28 games over two seasons -- he showed rust as the Browns finished 7-10. The following season, four days after he led a comeback victory on the road against the Baltimore Ravens, Watson was ruled out for the final eight games after undergoing surgery for a displaced fracture to the glenoid in his right shoulder -- a disappointing blow that capped another uneven campaign. Watson finished the season throwing seven touchdowns and four interceptions, while Joe Flacco, who was signed as a free agent after his injury, helped lead the Browns to a playoff berth.
Watson's 2024 season was worse. He threw five touchdown passes and failed to reach 200 passing yards in any of his seven starts. Watson then ruptured his right Achilles tendon against the Cincinnati Bengals in October. The injury was met with cheers from the Cleveland home crowd. Three months later, the Browns announced Watson had a second surgery on his Achilles after tearing it again this winter and would miss a significant portion of the 2025 season.
"[Watson] got hurt. I think there was a lot of unusual situations, but really bad injuries," Dee Haslam said. "When a player has these kind of bad injuries, it's really unfortunate for him and unfortunate for our organization."
Berry said at his end-of-season news conference that Cleveland already anticipated bolstering its quarterback room after starting four different passers in 2024. In 19 starts for the Browns, Watson's 34.2 Total QBR is second worst to the Tennessee Titans' Will Levis among qualified passers. But now, with Watson's expected lengthy absence, the front office is left to completely remodel the quarterbacks room. The Browns did not re-sign Jameis Winston, last year's backup, and in March, the team traded for 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett, sending the Philadelphia Eagles a fifth-round pick and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson. And on Friday, the team agreed to terms to bring back Flacco on a one-year, $4 million deal, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Cleveland hasn't provided an update on Watson's status, saying it's too early for a definitive return timeline.
"I think [doctors are] confident that he can [return from injury]," Jimmy Haslam said, "but you got to do it, you know what I mean?"
A foot and ankle specialist who has worked with NFL teams told ESPN that the normal recovery timeline for a quarterback who suffers a ruptured Achilles tendon would be about nine to 10 months. But Watson tearing his Achilles again impacts his rehab "pretty significantly."
"Anytime you have [to] go back in somewhere, it changes the ballgame a little bit ... typically that means slower recovery in the beginning and a longer overall recovery, and the clock starts back over," the specialist said. "So, now you're looking at closer to 10 months to a year. I mean, it's nine months again, if you're lucky."
The specialist said expectations for the recovery period for multiple tears need to be "tamped down a little bit."
"I would say there's ... [more] likelihood that he doesn't play [in 2025] than he does, from a medical standpoint," the specialist said. "That's not including what the team might want to do with him in terms of whether they would risk him playing, if they're going to move on from him.
"The question becomes: Is he going to be ready if you really are eight games into the season, and then at that point, is it worth it?"
THE NATURE OF Watson's fully guaranteed contract and the Browns' salary cap situation make a divorce difficult to navigate now and after the 2025 season, at least not without significant cap ramifications.
Haslam was asked at the league's annual meetings whether the team has an exit strategy for Watson's contract.
"The contract's the contract, and I would just restate what we said earlier: We need to see what Deshaun's health situation is before we make a decision," Haslam said.
The Browns owe Watson $46 million in each of the next two seasons and have already restructured his contract multiple times -- most recently in March -- converting salary to a bonus and pushing cap charges into the future to free space. There is $173 million in cap hits remaining on Watson's contract, and parting ways with him this offseason would mean the entirety of that dead money -- a salary cap charge for players no longer on the roster -- is placed on the 2025 season, which would make filling out the roster for the fall impractical.
Watson is likely to spend most of the season rehabbing on the physically unable to perform list. And with an $81 million cap hit in the 2026 season, he could remain on the roster for the duration of his deal. Cleveland is already $15 million over the cap for 2026, according to Roster Management System. However, the Browns bought an insurance policy for Watson's contract and received cap relief for 2024 after he missed 11 games to injury in 2023. They also received a small credit for his time sidelined during the 2024 season. According to a copy of Watson's contract obtained by ESPN last fall, the Browns have up to $44.2 million of his 2025 salary insured.
The $173 million in dead cap charges if the Browns cut Watson this season would be more than double the current NFL record, the $85 million charge the Denver Broncos took for releasing quarterback Russell Wilson in March 2024. Releasing Watson after the 2025 season with a post-June 1 designation -- a salary cap mechanism that allows teams to cut players and divide the remaining dead cap charges into two seasons -- would leave the Browns with a $135 million dead cap charge that could be split between the 2026 and 2027 seasons. But there could be some relief if Cleveland were to separate from Watson after the 2026 season. In that scenario, the dead money would drop to $53 million, which -- though still steep -- would be much more palatable, and would come with a likely higher salary cap.
Although any decisions on Watson's future likely won't happen for at least another year, he is working on returning to the field.
After splitting time between Miami and northeast Ohio for rehab before his second Achilles tear, Watson has been conducting the bulk of his rehab at the Browns' practice facility in Berea, Ohio. Stefanski said at the NFL scouting combine in February that he expects Watson will stay in the area as the offseason workout program commences April 22.
"He's there every day right now. I get to see him," Stefanski said. "So, he is working very hard. Obviously, the No. 1 thing for him is to get healthy."
FOR WATSON, WHO turns 30 in September, a trade market is improbable, given his on-field struggles, health status and exorbitant contract. Any team that acquires him would have to take on the remaining salary for the next two seasons, and the Browns would have to swallow amounts of dead money similar to those involved if they released him.
However, opinions from an NFL executive and a prominent agent were mixed on Watson's potential free agent market if he is released next offseason.
"If released, I don't see anyone picking him up," an NFC executive told ESPN. "And then, down the road, the question will be, will he take low-QB money? Would he even be motivated to play at that point?"
The agent said Watson's former Pro Bowl performance could afford him another opportunity if he returns to full strength.
"The league is forgiving with quarterbacks that have exhibited high-level talent," the agent said. "There is a shortage of good QB play. That's why I think a team could take a chance on him if he proves healthy. Some owners could have a problem with that because of the past, but not all."
The next time the league will see Watson on an NFL field remains uncertain. Over the next several months, he'll continue his rehab behind the scenes as the Browns operate as if they are turning the page on his tenure. The team has Pickett and has been evaluating this year's quarterback class, including Miami's Cam Ward and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders. Berry said at the league meetings that the position room will "skew young" as Cleveland again attempts to find its elusive franchise quarterback.
"The message is if the right [quarterback] is there, we're going to take him," Jimmy Haslam said. "If not, we'll figure it out for a year or two until we get the right person. We need good football players. There's good football players in this draft, and we got to make sure we get the right ones for us."
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler contributed to this report.