In January, Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson tore his Achilles for the second time in 12 weeks, leaving his playing status for 2025 looking bleak. The former first-rounder could miss the entire 2025 season, but the team says right now, nothing is definite either way.
Browns general manager Andrew Berry gave somewhat of an update on the QB that the team put so much stake in, when they signed him to a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract in 2022.
“It’s too early to say,” Berry said. “I can say Deshaun has done a great job of rehabbing. He’s been in every day. He’s progressing and that’s really our focus, but it’s too early to say.”
Watson originally tore his ACL on Oct. 20 in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on a noncontact play. Watson was carted off the field and less than three months later, tore the Achilles again during rehab, requiring another surgery.
Following the second Achilles injury, the team said, “Watson’s recovery time and return to play status is uncertain, and he will likely miss significant time during the 2025 season.”
Watson’s contract one of the worst, if not the worst contracts in NFL history and now the Browns may be looking at another year where their original QB1 is not on the field for the entire, or perhaps even some of, the year.
Even if Watson is ready to play at any point during the season, the Browns may still keep him on the sideline based on what they’ve seen from his performances while on the team so far. Watson hasn’t played a full season since 2020, when he went 4-12 with the Houston Texans.
Watson missed the entire 2021 season and was suspended for the first 11 games of the 2022 season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy because of alleged sexual misconduct. He played just six games in 2023 before suffering a season-ending shoulder surgery and played seven in 2024 before the aforementioned Achilles injury.
Before going down with his injury last season, he went 1-6 with 1,148 yards passing, five touchdowns and three interceptions. With the Browns, he has a 9-10 record, a 61.2 completion percentage, 3,365 yards passing, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
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