Jun 12, 2025; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) works out during mini camp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Analyst says Cleveland Browns Deshaun Watson trade was the worst in NFL history

Originally posted on Cleveland Browns on SI
By Jack O'Rourke | Last updated Sep 16, 2025 4:24 PM ET

The Cleveland Browns cut the head clean off the Baker Mayfield era when they traded three first round picks to the Houston Texans for Deshaun Watson, who was given a handsome, guaranteed pay day.

Browns analyst Nick Pedone hit his breaking point as Baker Mayfield capped off a primetime win with a touchdown drive on Monday Night Football. The former Browns’ first overall pick led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 2-0 start on the season. A day prior, the Browns lost their 17th game in twenty tries. As Baker Mayfield cements himself in the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks, Pedone staked his claim about the team's 2022 trade for Watson.

“They made the worst trade in the history of professional sports,” Pedone said on the BIGPLAY Cleveland Show this week. “The decision to move on from Baker Mayfield to Deshaun Watson still haunts this team.”

It’s hard to argue with this take, as the Browns are 0-2 while their former quarterback led his team to a 2-0 start.

“The offense has a $230M albatross that they invested three first round picks into,” Pedone said. "They still owe him $80M on their cap sheet next year and they’ve gotten quite literally zero production from that.

Why is the Browns defense so good while the offense is so bad?

"The offense has a $230M albatross that they invested three first-round picks into. They got nothing out of that."

-@NickPedone12 #DawgPound

presented by #fairwayford https://t.co/HmTBItzBx0 pic.twitter.com/PysrpCdXzB
— BIGPLAY Cleveland Show (@BIGPLAYCLEshow) September 16, 2025

When the Browns signed Watson’s five-year $230M fully-guaranteed extension, they could have never envisioned how bad the contract would turn out to be. Watson, who has only started 19 games over his four seasons as a Brown, has amassed less than 3,500 passing yards as the starting quarterback and has thrown for just 19 passing touchdowns.

Pedone’s “literally zero production” comment is barely hyperbolic.

Pedone chastised the Browns for banking on Watson to lift a roster with gaps the size of three first round picks instead of using the picks to build further around Mayfield.

“You could have used a first-round pick on an offensive lineman,” Pedone said. “The tackle position is laughable.”

For those that argue Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. would have still aged like milk, Pedone has a question: “How would Jerry Jeudy look as WR2 with a guy like Malik Nabers as your WR1?”

It’s hard to not daydream into the euphoric land where the Browns didn’t trade Mayfield, three first-round picks, and $230M worth of cap space. However, the dystopian reality of the worst trade of all time remains: “That dead weight is still around and is still going to be around next year.”