Lost in the shuffle of the ongoing Browns quarterback debate between rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders is the quarterback whose shadow looms over the whole situation and, indeed, over the organization in general. That, of course, is Deshaun Watson and the fully guaranteed $230 million contract he is being paid as he rehabs his twice-injured Achilles tendon.
Watson has played 19 games in the last four seasons for the Browns, including seven games in which he went 1-6 as a starter and logged a career-worst 79.0 rating in 2024. He injured his Achilles tendon in Week 7 and has not played since, re-injuring the Achilles in January and requiring a second surgery.
But if you thought that last season’s poor showing and a pair of Achilles tendon surgeries would mean the Browns are through with Watson, well, you have not been paying attention. Watson is signed through 2026 and the Browns have little incentive to dump him–and now, 10 months after his second injury, he might well be on the way back for Cleveland.
Browns Could Open the Practice Window on Deshaun Watson Soon
There was talk that the Browns would consider opening the practice window on Watson during the just-passed bye week. But coach Kevin Stefanski squashed that notion. Still, Watson is in the midst of the protocol that would lead him back to being eligible to play, as Cleveland.com Browns beat writer Mary Kay Cabot pointed out.
Per NFL rules, any player who begins the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list (PUP) can have their practice window opened, which allows them to return to the field. The team then has three weeks to activate the player, and if he’s still not healthy, he goes back on the PUP for the remainder of the season.
“There is no deadline where by—they have to have this done by November 24, or something like that,” Cabot said on the “Orange and Brown Talk” podcast. “They can open the practice window at any time and it is a 21-day window in which they can activate him at any point. And if they don’t, then he remains on reserve PUP for the rest of the season.”
Deshaun Watson ‘Going Through Rechecks’ on His Injury
Cabot pointed out that Watson needs to pass some tests before he can even be eligible to return to practice, and those tests are ongoing.
“He has not passed those medical exams yet and that has to happen before they open that practice window,” she said. “He is going through those rechecks now. Maybe even this week, next week, not really sure. I have been told he is going through the medical rechecks and once he clears then they can make some decisions. But until then, they won’t even entertain it.”
Indeed, the potential return to health of Watson probably does more to confuse the Browns’ situation than to help it. The Browns appear intent on giving Gabriel an ample chance to show he can be the quarterback of the future, and may give Sanders a similar chance later in the year, too.
But should they afford some time to Watson to show whether he can still play, too? He will have a $131 million cap hit over the next two year either way.
Browns Avoiding the Subject
Cabot says Watson is intent on getting back on the field even if the Browns are unwilling to talk about the possibility.
“From people I talk to, he feels like he can come in and be successful with this football team. So, I don’t know if he will get that chance, I have no idea if he will get that chance. He is like, he who shall not be named, nobody wants to talk about him. Nobody wants to answer a question about him. And we really don’t know.
“We don’t know when they are going to activate him or open his 21-day practice window. I will say, just so people understand, it can happen at any time.”
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