Browns address speculation around Deshaun Watson injury; QB determined to continue NFL career, per report

While they are openly exploring options at quarterback, the Cleveland Browns are not completely turning the page on Deshaun Watson, who has been rehabbing daily at the team’s facility since re-rupturing his Achilles last month. 

Speaking from the NFL Scouting Combine, Browns general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski discussed Watson and their plans for him moving forward. Berry addressed rumblings that the Browns would try to recoup some if not all of the $92 million remaining on the final two years of Watson’s contract. 

“I know there’s been a lot of speculation and everything out there, but there’s nothing nefarious,” Berry said while alluding to Watson’s injury, via Cleveland.com, which also reported Watson is determined to continue his career. “It’s just an unfortunate accident. So our focus is on making sure that he gets healthy and can be back to normal.”

Watson, who will turn 30 during the 2025 season, hasn’t played a full season in the NFL since 2020, his last active year as a member of the Houston Texans. Watson did not play at all in 2021 and missed 11 games in 2022 as the result of a league-mandated suspension after more than 20 women alleged the quarterback committed sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions. Watson played in just six games in 2023 after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. He played in seven games in 2024 before he ruptured his Achilles, an injury he aggravated in January. 

Given Watson’s injury situation, the Browns are actively trying to figure out their starting quarterback situation for 2025 and could even select a quarterback with the No. 2 pick in this year’s NFL Draft. The Browns are not ruling out Watson playing in 2025, however, although Berry acknowledged that Watson will miss significant time. 

“How far that spans into 2025, I can’t give you a specific right now,” Berry said. “He’s shown to be a fast healer and we’re going to try and be as thoughtful and aggressive with the recovery process, but that’s not something that I could predict at currently.”

Despite the injury setbacks, Watson is working toward having a successful comeback. That might be tricky, however, as the Browns may proceed with caution regarding Watson’s rehab and recovery. And even if Watson recovers quick enough to play, the Browns may decide to stick with whoever is their starting quarterback at that point in the season. 

Watson’s struggles on the field since coming to Cleveland may be part of his motivation to make a comeback while ending his career on a better note. He’s just 9-10 as the Browns starting quarterback, has seen his completion percentage drop off and has thrown only seven more touchdowns (19) than interceptions (12) during his time in Cleveland. 

“He’s taking it day to day like all of us do in life,” Stefanski said of Watson. “Again, the most important thing, he had a very unfortunate injury, re-injury with having surgery again. So the No. 1 thing is for him to get healthy.”