Deshaun Watson, a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns and one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL has seemingly proved himself to be the biggest mistake the Browns have ever made. Watson obtained this contract despite the 24 sexual assault allegations against him while a member of the Houston Texans.
Watson has proved to be unreliable based on both his gameplay and his ability to rally neither the locker room nor Browns fans. Based on this dissatisfaction and with all that the Browns fanbase has had to deal through the Watson era, the question must be asked – Is Cleveland finally sick of Deshaun Watson?
The 2024 NFL season marks the third year of Watson’s time with the team. Shockingly enough, throughout all of these three seasons Watson has never played an entire season with the team, adding to the disappointment of the Browns fans.
Watson was signed to the Cleveland Browns in 2022 under a five-year contract which guaranteed $230 million. This makes Watson the NFL’s second However, Watson has continued to prove time and time again that he is not only undeserving of this contract, but the act of even extending this contract to him was be one of the biggest mistakes that the Browns franchise has ever made.
In 2022, the Browns did all that they could to sign Watson – offering him one of the highest paid contracts in the NFL despite the fact that he was facing allegations of sexual assault. These allegations have continued to follow him through his career despite his consistent claims that he committed no wrongdoing.
Watson’s time with the Browns started with an 11-game suspension in the 2022 season stemming from these allegations violating the This was the first of many issues that has set the tone of his very sour career in Cleveland. Despite this this suspension Watson found himself able to play in six games of that season, only going 3-3.
Despite the dumpster fire of a season that happened the in 2022, Browns fans were grudgingly willing to accept Watson back to attempt to right his wrongs for the 2023 season. Yet again, in a weird twist of fate, Watson finds himself injured and unable to play for the latter half of this season. Here again, he plays only 6 games for the Browns.
This time his record with Cleveland being a stellar 5-1 before his season was cut short. However, regardless of Watson’s dirty record and inconsistencies, Browns supporters were forced to look past the hard times and think positively for what the next season had to offer.
Now, we reach the 2024 NFL season. As the Browns prepare for their week seven home game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Watson takes the field, greeted by an assortment of boos from his home crowd. Working with a 1-5 record at this point and a shaky offense Watson went down in the second quarter of the game with a season ending injury to his Achilles.
This marks the third consecutive season in which Watson has yet to play more than seven games for the Browns, as well as the second season in three years that Watson finds himself facing serious sexual assault allegations.
This disappointment factor from Browns fans can be heard loud and clear. From the stadium booing Watson while he was being taken off the field after being injured against the Bengals, to the disdain heard from fans during Watson’s player introduction, one thing is made adamantly clear; Cleveland is sick of Deshaun Watson.
The bad publicity that comes with not only being home to a team with one of the worst records in the 2024 season; but that team, being led by a man who is so controversial, creates a tense atmosphere.
This makes it difficult to even cheer for the team, let alone, have pride in them. With every loss it seems like Browns fans and the City of Cleveland have both reached the end of their patience with the situation that the Browns have been put in.
For a quarterback who is privileged enough to have been given such an underserved second chance, it seems as if this season has been the final straw for Watson’s time in Cleveland.
Watson, a quarterback who has more sexual assault allegations than touchdown passes over the past three years, is in what many people expect to be his final run in the NFL, for which he has nobody to blame but himself.
The tumultuous past years of his career are enough to solidify the fact that signing Watson while he was facing such controversies, has proven to be a mistake that Cleveland now must live with.
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