Deshaun Watson is expected to make a decision soon on which NFL team will call him their quarterback in 2022. With the grand jury choosing to not indict the former Pro Bowl quarterback on allegations of sexual misconduct, the door flies open for potential trade scenarios around the league. Having not suited up for the Houston Texans for a single snap last season, Watson is eager to find a new NFL home and there are no shortage of suitors — but you can now delete the Cleveland Browns from the race.
Having met with Watson during the quarterback’s recent tour and with an offer submitted to the Texans, the Browns have reportedly been notified they’re out of the running for Watson — per NFL Network and confirmed by CBS Sports NFL senior report Jonathan Jones on Thursday — news that narrows the list of frontrunners who have the best odds of acquiring the controversial 26-year-old.
This makes things that much more interesting regarding the now-fractured relationship between the Browns and former first-overall pick Baker Mayfield, who penned what could only be viewed as a goodbye letter to Browns fans this week. The organization will now try to double back and reassert Mayfield as their starting QB going forward, but the damage has been done, and it’s unclear to what extent — Mayfield himself possibly teetering on asking for a trade at some point.
Mayfield is due a fully guaranteed $18.5 million in 2022, and any team acquiring him would take on that cap hit, barring a reworked contract and/or the Browns agreeing to absorb some of the hit.
As for Watson, the race appears to be down to only three horses, unless there’s a team hiding in the dark awaiting their moment to pounce, similar to what occurred on Wednesday in the Von Miller spree (Buffalo Bills being the secret candidate). But, as it stands, it’s the Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints all vying vehemently for his services, in an all-out battle royale within the NFC South. The latter two have more of an inside track, however, with Watson being an Atlanta native and the Saints having now reportedly met with him a second time, this one including team owner Gayle Benson, per NFL Network.
Benson and Co. have also restructured several deals this week to push their available cap space to nearly $30 million, needing around $35 million to absorb the 2022 cap hit of Watson’s contract, while the Falcons have yet to restructure the contract on quarterback Matt Ryan, presumably to make him easier to trade in the event they land Watson.
It’s all coming to a climactic end, and one of these teams will soon celebrate a new franchise QB while the others are left to do a lot of explaining to their incumbent signal-caller, but with no one having any idea of what punishment — if any — will be handed down by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell once the transaction part of this equation is complete.
