Browns insider gives update on Deshaun Watson's availability for 2025 season

Watson has played in only 19 games since joining the team in 2022, throwing for 3,365 yards and 19 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. He has racked up a 9-10 record as the starter for Cleveland.

The Browns are in a unique situation at quarterback, as the franchise is using the 2025 season to determine whether rookie third-round pick Dillon Gabriel or rookie fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders is the solution at quarterback moving forward. There doesn't seem to be much debate as to whether Watson is the future of the franchise at quarterback.

Members of the Browns organization, including owner Jimmy Haslam, have acknowledged that it was a fatal mistake to bring in Watson and the contract he signed. A public decolation like that doesn't usually bode well for the player.

At this point, it is looking less and less likely that Watson survives on the Browns' roster through the 2026 season, unless he has the ultimate redemption story. Sitting at age 30, the clock is running out on a guy who has been injured pretty much every season since being in Cleveland, and when he has played, he has not lived up to the three-time Pro Bowler he was in Houston.

Instead, the Browns' organization is left in ruins, trying to figure out what to do at quarterback with little money to spend since the majority of it is either going to Myles Garrett or Watson. At least for Garrett, he's on the field contributing in a way that will have him be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Once the contract is up in 2026, Watson might end up being a footnote in NFL history as a cautionary tale. Off the field concerns and durability have ruined what was once a promising, rising star in the NFL.