Why Browns legend wants Deshaun Watson to emulate Joe Flacco

Browns legend Bernie Kosar recently spoke with Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland about how current Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson could benefit from emulating Joe Flacco.

"It was so beautiful," Kosar said about Cleveland's offense with Flacco in the lineup. "Execution-wise it was phenomenal. Some of those games are really artistic. There was such beauty in some of the ways we attacked people offensively. If Deshaun adds to that his game…man." 

Watson officially made six starts but didn't finish every outing during the 2023 campaign before he was shut down with a season-ending shoulder injury in November. Meanwhile, Flacco went from being an unsigned free agent to a Cleveland savior, winning four of five starts to help the club reach the playoffs. 

To compare numbers from this past regular season, Watson completed 61.4% of 171 passes for 1,115 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions. Flacco connected on 60.3% of 204 pass attempts for 1,616 yards with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. 

"It was core, fundamental football and it wasn’t rocket science what we were doing," Kosar added about the Flacco-led Browns. "Actually, it would be an addition to Deshaun’s game that’s not really hard to implement. Boy, they should just add to what we did at the end of the year." 

That seems unlikely. The Browns replaced offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt with Ken Dorsey this offseason in part because it's believed Dorsey can better maximize Watson's dual-threat skills. Additionally, head coach Kevin Stefanski strongly suggested during the NFL scouting combine this week that Watson will "continue to be very mobile" despite the signal-caller's recent injury history. 

As for Flacco, he turned 39 years old this past January and reportedly wants a chance to begin September atop a club's depth chart at the position. The Super Bowl XLVII Most Valuable Player has been linked in stories with the New England Patriots, as New England could start Flacco ahead of a rookie chosen with the third pick of this year's NFL Draft.