Safe to say, nothing has quite turned out how it was supposed to for Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson since he was dealt from the Texans to Cleveland back in 2022 when, after three straight Pro Bowl selections, a trade was completed giving Houston three straight first-round picks, plus a third-rounder and two fourths for Watson.
Watson has since been embroiled in legal issues (20 settled sexual misconduct lawsuits) and has dealt with injury after injury, all while being utterly ineffective on the field. He was 28-25 in four years with the Texans, with a quarterback rating of 104.5. The Browns, as part of the trade, gave Watson the biggest contract guarantee in NFL history, worth $230 million. He has gone 9-10 as the Browns’ QB, with a rating of 80.7. His 2024 season ended with a torn Achilles tendon, an injury he was recoving from when hte re-tore the tendon earlier this month. But it was worse than that. Some disgruntled Browns fans are not satisfied with merely booing Watson on the field. He has, according to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic, gotten death threats. “For three years, the Browns contorted themselves to match Watson’s strengths and desires. But teammates ultimately grew tired of the organization catering to an ineffective quarterback, and he never really fit in Cleveland. He received at least one death threat,” Lloyd wrote this week. That was, according to Lloyd’s reporting, not the only threat Watson received.