What’s next for Browns after Deshaun Watson’s season-ending Achilles injury

CLEVELAND — Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson took a shotgun snap and attempted to carry out a run play toward the end of the first half of Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. But before he could pass the line of scrimmage, he crumpled to the ground, reaching for his lower right leg.

The magnitude of the injury was immediate as a cart made its way onto the field. Then the entire Browns team came off the sideline in concern for its starting quarterback.

Moments later, Watson was wheeled off to the locker room. He used a towel draped over his head to wipe tears from his face.

On Monday, the Browns confirmed Watson had ruptured his right Achilles, marking the second straight year Cleveland has lost Watson to a season-ending injury. He injured his throwing shoulder in Week 10 last year.

Watson’s three seasons in Cleveland have yielded 19 underwhelming starts. Since the Browns traded for him before the 2022 season, guaranteeing $230 million over five years, Watson has served an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy and suffered two season-ending injuries. His signing, which was supposed to secure the Browns’ quarterback position for years to come, has instead left more questions about the franchise’s plans at the position, not only in the immediate future but also next year as Watson once again faces a long rehabilitation, one that could linger into the 2025 season.

“We feel bad for Deshaun,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Monday. “In this case, feel bad to lose him for the season. And we also know as a football team, this is where you have to step up. Guys have to step up, and that’s just how it goes.”

For weeks, the Browns had faced questions about Watson’s standing as the team’s starting quarterback. As his play deteriorated, fans began getting restless.

The Browns went all-in to acquire Watson in 2022. Despite sexual assault allegations that would eventually force Watson to serve a suspension to start his Cleveland career, the franchise sent the Houston Texans three first-round picks and gave Watson a fully guaranteed contract in hopes of lifting the team to contention.

Since the move, Watson has produced a 34 QBR and a 9-10 record as a starter. His status as a polarizing and contentious figure during his tenure in Cleveland was on display early in Sunday’s 21-14 loss to the Bengals. Home fans booed him during pregame introductions and continued as Cleveland’s offense sputtered.

As he lay on the ground following the Achilles injury, fans’ cheers and boos drew the ire of his Browns teammates.

“We should be ashamed of ourselves,” defensive end Myles Garrett said afterward.

Though the injury will prevent Watson from making an impact on the field for Cleveland, his contract will continue to loom over the franchise. The next two seasons, Watson has cap hits of $72.9 million, both of which are slated to be the second-highest in the NFL, according to the Roster Management System. Cleveland owes Watson $46 million in each of the next two seasons, an exorbitant investment in a player who has the fourth-lowest QBR of 45 quarterbacks with at least 10 starts since the beginning of the 2022 season.

The Browns restructured Watson’s contract before the season, creating $44.79 million in cap space that the team is expected to carry over to become cap compliant in the 2025 offseason. Cleveland is projected to be $52 million over the cap for the 2025 season. Restructuring Watson’s contract, though, created $172 million and $99 million dead cap hits in 2025 and 2026 if Cleveland were to part ways with him with a pre-June 1 cut.

The Browns bought an insurance policy for Watson’s contract and received cap relief for 2024 after he missed 11 games due to injury in 2023. If his injury forces him to miss games in 2025, Cleveland could get additional relief.

According to a copy of Watson’s contract obtained by ESPN, the Browns have up to $13.9 million of Watson’s 2024 salary insured and up to $44.2 million of his 2025 salary insured.

However, with limited cap space expected in 2025, the Browns’ best opportunity to upgrade at quarterback could come in the draft. Cleveland no longer owes any picks for the Watson trade and, with the team 1-6, its first first-round pick since 2021 is trending to be a top selection. ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid’s latest mock draft, projected before Watson’s injury, had the Browns selecting Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders with the No. 1 pick.

Before the season, Browns general manager Andrew Berry spoke about keeping Watson in Cleveland for years to come and over the duration of multiple contracts, a starry-eyed outlook for a player who had yet to live up to the expectations that came with one of the largest deals in NFL history.

A statement released by the team Monday said Watson is expected to make a full recovery. Stefanski, though, avoided answering multiple questions about Watson’s play this season and his status as the team’s starting quarterback once he is healthy again.

“Obviously, I believe in Deshaun,” Stefanski said. “But I also think it’s important just to acknowledge that he just had a bad injury and a bad break for him. We’re feeling bad for him and know that he’ll bounce back. But not getting into all those things down the road. I’m looking forward to him getting the surgery and obviously getting his body right back.”

The Browns started the season 1-5 with Watson posting the lowest QBR in the NFL. But Stefanski stood by him as starting quarterback, saying Watson gave Cleveland its best opportunity to win. The team, though, made a change at backup quarterback before Sunday’s game, promoting second-year player Dorian Thompson-Robinson to QB2, while veteran Jameis Winston was made the emergency quarterback.

Thompson-Robinson showcased his athleticism after Watson’s injury, leading the Browns with 44 rushing yards. But he struggled as a passer, completing 11 of 24 passes for 82 yards and throwing two interceptions. He injured a finger on his throwing hand while making a tackle after his second pick late in the fourth quarter, which forced Winston to enter the game with the Browns down 21-6. Winston completed 5 of 11 passes for 67 yards, throwing a touchdown and converting a 2-point attempt before an unsuccessful onside kick effectively ended the game.

After the game, Stefanski said he viewed both Thompson-Robinson and Winston as the No. 2 quarterback but decided to go with Thompson-Robinson because the game plan did not include the short-yardage package the team has used with Winston this season.

“I felt like Dorian had acquitted himself well in practice and in his preparation to make him the backup,” Stefanski said.

Stefanski did not commit to a starting quarterback for Sunday’s home game against the Baltimore Ravens, saying he wanted to gather more information on the extent of Thompson-Robinson’s injury. Stefanski said he felt comfortable about Thompson-Robinson’s availability for the season but was noncommittal about the Ravens game. With no quarterback on the practice squad, Stefanski said the team will add a passer this week.

Thompson-Robinson, a 2023 fifth-round pick, made three starts last season, completing 53.6% of his passes for 440 yards, 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions. His first start came unexpectedly against the Ravens after Watson was made inactive because of a right shoulder injury. Thompson-Robinson threw three interceptions in a 28-3 loss and made two more starts before the Browns turned to Joe Flacco after Watson suffered another shoulder injury, with that one requiring season-ending surgery.

Thompson-Robinson showed more comfort and command of the offense during his second training camp and preseason. The team opted to keep him over Tyler Huntley as one of its three quarterbacks and has remained bullish on his potential. But Thompson-Robinson’s inexperience was highlighted as he looked overwhelmed taking over for Watson on Sunday.

“There are a lot of things I need to do to clean up,” Thompson-Robinson said after the game. “It kind of gave me flashbacks to the Ravens game last year, and that feeling still has a bad taste in my mouth. And that is something that I need to look myself in the mirror and get ready to prepare for next week.”

Winston, a 10-year veteran, provides a more experienced option than Thompson-Robinson. He has started 80 games since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft. Winston, though, is less mobile than Thompson-Robinson or Watson, which could be a liability behind an offensive line that has surrendered a league-high 35 sacks.

“I am ready and prepared for whatever role,” Winston said. “That has been the story of my career the last few years. I’m ready. I’m ready and prepared for whatever role it is I am to play. I’m here to serve.”

Whichever quarterback the Browns name as starter, the offense seems poised to pivot from the spread approach that was built around Watson with hopes of getting him back to Pro Bowl form. With running back Nick Chubb making his season debut Sunday after last year’s severe knee injury, Cleveland ran 28.6% of its plays from under center, tied for its second-highest rate this season. The Browns’ shotgun snap percentage — 71.4% — was their second lowest this season.

“I think you’d have to do that as an offense, you’re always leaning into what your quarterbacks are most comfortable with,” Stefanski said. “So, that’ll be true certainly moving forward.”

Stefanski is accustomed to making a midseason change at quarterback. When the Browns signed Flacco, Cleveland went back to the West Coast principles Stefanski initially brought in — under-center snaps and play-action passes — and it helped keep the team’s season afloat en route to the playoffs.

At the time Stefanski turned to Flacco, though, the Browns were 7-4, leaning on an elite defense and in need of a quarterback to guide the offense. The circumstances of another quarterback change due to injury are different.

In Sunday’s defeat, which dropped Cleveland to 1-6, the Browns’ offense recorded 300 total yards for the first time this season but extended its streak of games without 20 points to seven, the longest to start a season in 15 years.

Watson wasn’t able to lift Cleveland’s offense in seven starts this season, but the unit finds itself with lasting problems — from penalties to blocking issues — that Stefanski and whoever starts at quarterback against the Ravens will have to work to rectify.

ESPN senior writer Kalyn Kahler contributed to this report.